“Essential workers.” “First people children see every day.” “Critical to children’s education.” Most of us have said these things, with good cause, about our school bus drivers…which makes the current rash of violent acts against drivers so hard to reconcile. As the 2021-22 school year nears the first quarter mark, it has been marked by […]
By Deirdre O’Brien Technology and grassroots efforts join forces to increase safety outside the bus Students outside the school bus are far more vulnerable to risk of injury than those on-board the bus. And the risk to students outside the bus is rising every year, according to annual injury statistics. The 2018-19 school year saw […]
Are you really doing everything you can to make sure the children in your care are getting safely to and from school? Yes, state governments mandate that no child shall be left on a school vehicle. And school districts and transportation contractors require extensive training for drivers. They also equip their vehicles with cameras and […]
By Peter Mannella Several years ago, at an annual conference I was planning in New York, I invited a guest speaker who specialized in child and family social trends and conditions. My intention was for her to share information with the pupil transportation professionals in the room about the children who get our attention […]
More than half a century of changes, and quite a few shower curtains later, Laural Hayes will finally retire from the school transportation profession. In 1968, The Beatles were at the top of the charts, a postage stamp cost 6 cents, Apollo 8 orbited the moon for the first time, and Laural Voelker stepped into […]
Earlier this year the National Safety Transportation Board (NTSB) released a safety report documenting their findings of an investigation into four electric vehicle fires involving high-voltage, lithium-ion batteries. Dr. Peter Lawrence, CDPT, Ed.D., sat down with Dr. Thomas Barth, Survival Factors Investigator and Biomechanics Engineer at the NTSB, to discuss the impacts of this report […]
When you hear about risk management, what is your first thought? Is it lawyers and insurance brokers, and lots of paperwork? If those are the images recalled, it is time to rethink risk and where it comes from. Risk is often perceived as something to be afraid of because the consequences can often be devastating […]
School buses are known to be the safest method of transporting kids to school – 70 times safer than travelling by car. School bus design improvements and a variety of safety products and technologies all contribute to help school buses maintain this distinction. Industry insight gathered on safety incidents involving school buses, however, shows that […]
By Jean Souliere Drivers illegally pass stopped school buses more than 17 million times a year in the US. BusPatrol aims to reduce this number to zero with its no-cost school bus safety programs. Jean Souliere, CEO of BusPatrol, explains how school districts can overcome financial barriers that prohibit them from adopting the latest school […]
As we start a new year, the one thing I think we all desire is peace. We just came off a holiday season where many of the songs are about peace. Peace is defined as “freedom from disturbance; a state of security; freedom from oppressive thoughts or emotions.” Through much of 2020 I spoke about […]