School Bus Safety & Security
Every day, school bus drivers across the country are entrusted with the care and safety of 25 million children as they are transported to and from school and school-related activities on public school buses.
Drivers are not only responsible for the safe and proper operation of the school bus, but also must often respond to medical and other emergencies that may arise during the trip to and from school, as well as disciplinary problems and all-too frequent outbreaks of violence aboard their buses. School bus drivers, as friend and care giver to the children entrusted to them, are often the first to respond in such instances and can serve to warn school officials when a child is demonstrating violent or other potentially dangerous behavior early in the school day.
ATU Supports
(1) 1) Requiring training for school bus drivers on managing student behavior, safety and security awareness, and emergency preparedness and response; and
2) Clarifying the authority of school bus drivers to discipline students or enforce student conduct codes; and
3) Requiring school bus drivers to be appointed to state, local or district wide committees on stu- dent discipline; and
4) Amending criminal statutes to treat physical attacks on school bus drivers, including attacks by students, gang members, and others, in the same manner as attacks on other school personnel.
Unfortunately, however, school bus drivers are not well equipped for such situations. Typically the only authority figure aboard the bus, drivers have only a rear view mirror in which to view the students entrusted to their care, and, as a result, are not able to closely monitor student behavior. Further, school bus drivers currently receive minimal, if any, training as to what constitutes unacceptable behavior and appropriate discipline and are often not given any instructions for reporting incidents to school officials.
There is a need for practical and on-going training for school bus drivers on procedures and protocols for defusing crises and responding to violent students.
School Bus Passing Laws
School buses are generally considered to be the safest motor vehicles on the highway. Fatal crashes involving school bus occupants are extremely rare events, even though school buses serve daily in every community – a remarkable 8.8 billion student “to-and-from school” trips annually. In fact, based on a per-mile comparison, school buses are four times safer than passenger cars.
The rare school bus-related injuries or fatalities that do occur are typically in connection with the loading and unloading of passengers. In fact, pedestrian fatalities (while loading and unloading) account for approximately three times as many school bus-related fatalities, when compared to school bus occupant fatalities. Most of these incidents occur when motorists do not stop in the presence of a school bus’ flashing red lights and stop arm - as required by law.
ATU Supports
Strengthening enforcement of and increasing penalties for violations of laws prohibiting motorists from passing a stopped school bus with its stop arm extended or red flashing lights engaged.