My adult daughter, who has a mild learning disability, as been employed as a bus aide for about a year. The job suits her almost perfectly as she has a license but doesn’t drive. She gets picked up and dropped off in front of her home (where she lives with her mother) twice a day and manages the kids. It a private bus company contracted out the school district. Aides are required by state law. During the summer months she signed up to continue as an aide for a van taking a few special needs kids to summer school. I’m not sure of the details but it seems the summer position is a separate job from during the school year.
Anyway, my daughter told me last night that she was going to company office this morning to report that her driver has been speeding, texting while driving and nodding off at the wheel. One time she had to rouse him as his chin was on his chest and she thought he was asleep. She was scared enough to make a formal complaint. She went in with her mother and was told by the 22 year old manager that her choice was to continue with the driver or quit. Apparently, CDL drivers are in short supply and they aren’t looking to lose another. She quit. The manager said something about looking into her allegation but that was it. This was a month-long job and I hope it doesn’t impact the school year job. I believe its the same driver but I don’t know for sure. I suggested that she and/or her mother go over the managers head. Granted, it would be a she said, he said issue as there are no cameras in this van. I thought, minimally, they would offer to put her on a different route. Nope.
I can’t say what happens in the state you live in but in the states where I have lived a report about an unsafe school bus driver would get some immediate notice. The lack of drivers with a CDL is a serious problem though. Maybe to take a bus on the highway the CDL makes sense but not for the everyday to and from school pickup and dropoff in town.
Have you ever driven a school bus? Buses not only have to use freeways for such things as field trips or sports team/club transportation but also roads between small towns.
ETA:Buses frequently(always?) have air brakes which require a specific endorsement.
About a year ago I got hit by a school bus. He pushed my car, at speed, for about a block, then up a curb and almost rolled it.
His supervisor beat the cops to the scene by about a half hour. Her number one goal was getting him back on the road. In my head I was assuming he was going to be in all kinds of trouble. I assumed he was going to be drug tested and possible fired. At the very least, I assumed he wasn’t going to be continuing on his route that day. Nope. I was floored when the supervisor even told me that if the police aren’t here in the next few minutes, the driver would have to leave since he needs to be at his next stop soon.
To the best of my knowledge, he never even got a ticket for it.
I know there’s a driver shortage, but I can’t imagine putting him back on the road that day.
If she does go back on the road with him, can she covertly record him on her phone? Or at least make a bit more noise when ‘waking’ him. If it gets the attention of other riders, they might also say something.
But back to the question, I’d suggest leaving. If my daughter told me that, I don’t think I’d let her continue working there.
In fact, I’d have her start keeping her eyes open for new jobs. Even if she does continue working there, she may be risking her job by speaking up again (I know, I know, that’s illegal, but that doesn’t stop anyone).
Yes, CDL holders are in short supply, and CDL holders who can pass a background check to work with children shorter yet… but keeping an unsafe driver on for that reason misses the entire point. The reason that driving a bus requires a CDL is because you need a safe driver.
Instead of taking this up with the employer, who has a perverse incentive at play, I’d recommend taking it up with the the DMV (or whoever the licensing authority is in your state). If the driver is nodding off behind the wheel, they shouldn’t have a CDL at all, and the licensing authority has no reason to want them to continue on.
By document, I meant keep an ongoing log of what has happened in the event that there are legal actions in the future. Trying to take covert video is a terrible idea.
Why? My sister got a bus driver fired (or at least reprimanded, I don’t remember) for doing something similar. She was on a chartered bus and took video of the driver dangerously close the the vehicle in front of it (an oil tanker) AND texting. TPTB seemed pretty happy with her for getting the video.
I have no idea what a bus aide does, but if there’s ‘down time’ where she’s just sitting down until the next thing she has to do, I don’t understand why it would be dangerous to get a quick video of him texting or doing something else dangerous.
Yes, she should wake him up. But you also have to be careful not to, in any way, shape or form, imply that she would have even the smallest amount of responsibility if something should happen. Waking the driver up is almost certainly not one of her job duties.
If this is something that happens often enough that she has to be vigilant, she needs to be off the bus. She can report it, she can alert others, whatever, but she also needs to protect herself.
He was still there when the police got there. If he had left, I would have asked the cops to do just that, however, since his supervisor was planning to remain on the scene, I’m not entirely certain if it would have been considered a hit and run. But it’s moot since it didn’t happen.
At this point I would assume she is still on the roster for the regular school year.
It’s too bad the summer job route driver was so sketchy. Guess quitting would direct their attention to the driver impairment, though in future it may happen again on any route or there could be a driver emergency she’d have to handle.
Glad to hear they require aides on board. It’s a lot for drivers to handle if things escalate in the back of the bus.
My friend used to drive bus, oh the stories she can tell! Once she was driving to a special needs school and one of the kids was taking off his clothes and throwing them out the window.
Recording video of the driver opens up a whole can of worms, depending on the laws in your state. I don’t know what state this is and I’m not an expert on any state’s laws, but I’m guessing that if the law allowed her to record the driver, then the district would also have their own cameras on the bus, and the fact that they don’t suggests that it wouldn’t be allowed.
The OP says it’s a private bus company contracted by the school district. If she was employed by the school district, she’s really more of a customer of the private bus company than a co-worker.
I’m not sure I follow the logic. The law allowing something has nothing to do with whether or not a private employer will do it. Besides, it’s not like that kind of stuff never disappears. It would be helpful to have your own copy instead of relying on them to hand it over if necessary.
Are you suggesting that a customer can record a bus driver but a co-worker can’t?