When I am not shooting off my mouth about the death care industry or leading a seminar on planning one’s death, you might find me behind a school bus wheel. School bus drivers go through intense training and our main objective is to keep kids safe to and from school. If you think about it, what the driver does is most amazing – navigating roads with a long vehicle all the while maintaining a certain amount of calm on the bus filled with children. With all this training, sometimes-tragic events occur. Bus fatalities most likely occur during loading and unloading of the bus. While school buses are not my usual topic, I would like to discuss what other drivers and parents could do to lessen the likelihood of fatalities. Schools are opening soon; here are things we can all do to help make it a safe trip everyone:
Be Aware of the Bus: I know what it is like to see a school bus coming and not want to get behind a slow moving school bus. School buses carry our nations most fragile and precious cargo. Please, try not to cut off a bus. School buses take longer to brake than a car. Most bus drivers do not wish to frustrate car drivers. If they are going slow there might be a reason. Try to find a safe way to avoid the bus.
Stop Arm: When the bus is stopped, and the stop arm is out, do not ever pass the bus. A car driver has no idea if a student will be crossing in front of the bus, nor can a car driver see around the bus. Just wait for the stop arm to go back in and then pass the bus if you wish. If the bus is stopped on one side of the street and you see the stop arm out, do not pass. Some children pass in front of the bus. You might hit them, and no one wants that.
Death Zone: I bet most of you do not know the bus has a death zone. This includes most of the rear of the bus. Do not pick up your child at the rear of the bus. Please meet the bus at the front of the bus. Do not go up to a window at the rear of the bus to wave at your darling.
Be aware that the bus, like your car, is a lethal weapon; be kind to the bus driver. He or she is trying to keep everyone safe. We are all out there on the streets. Let us do our best to keep the kids safe as much as we can.
Be Aware of the Bus: I know what it is like to see a school bus coming and not want to get behind a slow moving school bus. School buses carry our nations most fragile and precious cargo. Please, try not to cut off a bus. School buses take longer to brake than a car. Most bus drivers do not wish to frustrate car drivers. If they are going slow there might be a reason. Try to find a safe way to avoid the bus.
Stop Arm: When the bus is stopped, and the stop arm is out, do not ever pass the bus. A car driver has no idea if a student will be crossing in front of the bus, nor can a car driver see around the bus. Just wait for the stop arm to go back in and then pass the bus if you wish. If the bus is stopped on one side of the street and you see the stop arm out, do not pass. Some children pass in front of the bus. You might hit them, and no one wants that.
Death Zone: I bet most of you do not know the bus has a death zone. This includes most of the rear of the bus. Do not pick up your child at the rear of the bus. Please meet the bus at the front of the bus. Do not go up to a window at the rear of the bus to wave at your darling.
Be aware that the bus, like your car, is a lethal weapon; be kind to the bus driver. He or she is trying to keep everyone safe. We are all out there on the streets. Let us do our best to keep the kids safe as much as we can.
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