Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood recognized the expertise of professional, commercial truck drivers and inspectors in his daily blog. The post came nearly half-way between last month’s International School Bus Driver Safety Competition hosted by NSTA in Baltimore and the NAPT America’s Best School Bus Technician and School Bus Inspector Skills and Training Competition in San Antonio, Texas.
Certainly, as the secretary points out, the safety of the nation’s cargo rests in the capable hands of professional drivers and inspectors. Crucial to this goal are the 2011 North American Inspectors Championship and the 2011 National Truck Driving Championships, hosted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and supported by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. But, in that same breath, the outstanding jobs of school bus drivers and school bus technicians and inspectors should also be lauded, too. After all, their “cargo,” the students, are the most important resources we’ve got.
After keynoting the NSTA Annual Convention last month, LaHood did blog about school bus safety and the drivers responsible for the best vehicle safety record on the road today. Here’s hoping he’ll do the same when America’s Best kicks off on Sept. 27.
***
Speaking of outstanding safety and training, a school bus driver in Anchorage, Alaska spotted a high school student with a loaded .22-caliber handgun on the school bus this week and promptly reported the weapon to authorities.
The 19-year-old student was de-boarding the bus when the gun fell out of his pocket and onto the bus stepwell, according to the Anchorage Daily News. The bus driver saw the gun, called it in to dispatch. The boy was soon arrested and was charged with the fourth-degree misdemeanor of weapons misconduct. If convicted, the student faces up to a year in jail and a $10,000 fine.
***
What is to be done about angy (and possibly disturbed) parents or other members of the public who are illegally boarding school buses in an effort to confront the driver or student riders? An Arizona man is being held on charges of aggravated assault upon a school employee and 14 counts of child endangerment after he forced his way onto a moving Fort Mohave school bus and began to beat the 73-year-old driver.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that the man was upset that his 11-year-old daughter had been disciplined the day before by the driver. A Sheriff’s department spokesperson said the man confronted the driver the next morning at the bus stop and cursed him. As the driver attempted to pull the bus away from the curb, the man began running alongside the bus and forced himself through the loading doors. The man then began beating the driver on the head.
Thankfully, the driver still had the wherewithal to bring the bus to a stop, and none of the children were injured.
***
Certainly the economy is horrible worldwide, as was evidenced this week when markets across the globe plummeted. U.S. and Euro investors, especially, continue to take a hit amid widespread, strangling uncertainity tied to domestic and international debt crises and falling bank shares. While nearly all major markets posted huge losses this week, Sian Thornthwaite of the UK school transport and travel consultancy STC said the London Stock Exchange lost enough money, £62 billion, on Aug. 18 that it would have paid for the nation’s school transport for 62 years. Ouch.
***
Finally, the Ford Bend Independent School District southwest of Houston cut school bus routes this week for more than 1,300 high school students, just in time for the start of school next week. The students live less than two miles from school, within safe walking distance of the respective campuses, reported Ultimate Fort Bend. Just last year, the district labeled pedestrian routes to the schools from in these same neighborhoods as hazardous. The cuts are expected to save the district $275,000 a year. The cuts also were extended to some middle school and elementary school students.
