Schools remind students, parents of bus safety

Faiss Middle School students exit their school bus on Thursday.

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 | midnight

Faiss Middle School students board school buses after class on Thursday.

National School Bus Safety Week was Oct. 20-24, and for schools throughout Summerlin it was an opportunity to remind students and parents about safety for both children and passing motorists.

At Givens Elementary School, two buses operate each day — one bus serves six special education students while a larger bus carries about 50 children.

The vast majority of the 980 students at Givens are either driven by their parents or walk to school, said Principal Rick Slater, but there are still occasional issues during the after-school rush.

"Sometimes, parents don't give our buses enough room to maneuver out of the bus lane where they pick up kids," Slater said. "Every now and then I have to go out and remind the parents about parking too close to the exit area for the bus."

In terms of student behavior while on the buses, Slater said there are rarely any problems.

"Anytime there's a circumstance where kids are getting rowdy, the drivers let me know and I visit with the kids on the bus to remind them of the procedures," he said.

A total of 1,457 school buses in the Clark County School District operate on 1,350 routes each day, and safety is always the top priority, said Doug Geller, transportation director for the district.

"We handle 100,000 kids daily throughout the entire district and our buses cover 8,000 square miles of Southern Nevada," Geller said.

In the 2007-08 school year there were 300 accidents involving school buses in Clark County, Geller said, but none of them resulted in any serious injuries to students.

One of the big issues with school bus safety, he said, is other cars and motorists not following traffic laws when they are near a school bus.

"The law requires that other cars stop when our buses are flashing red and their stop arm is out," Geller said. "That means traffic on both sides of the road, unless there is a median. In that case, only the cars following the bus have to stop."

School buses will also flash yellow caution lights to encourage drivers to slow down if they are approaching heavy traffic. In general, Geller said drivers should always slow down when they see a school bus.

The district's buses are equipped with several safety features such as large rear view and side mirrors that provide almost no blind spots for drivers. Rollover bars in the roof also prevent the roof from collapsing in the case of a rollover.

"District wide there hasn't been a rollover in 20 years," Geller said. "It takes a lot for a bus to roll over, but we have had buses tip over onto their side."

A reinforced steel cage surrounds the fuel tank to protect it from impact during a crash. Each bus also has fire extinguishers and first aid kits.

When it comes to the passengers, Geller said its okay for kids to stop and say hello to the driver when they're coming aboard, but students need to remain seated.

"If they aren't in a seat they could be thrown like a projectile during an accident," he said. "The key is to stay seated."

School bus seats are compartmentalized and designed to withstand g-forces in a crash. They are placed close together to reduce the body's forward momentum during an accident and the seat backs have surfaces designed to absorb impact.

But all the safety features aren't cheap, and the Transportation Department hasn't been immune to budget cuts — in an effort to save money, the department had to cut 109 buses for the 2008-09 school year.

In light of National School Bus Safety Week, Geller said one of the most important tips for both passengers and motorists is to have patience.

"Drivers tend to get impatient, especially if it's a parent delivering kids," he said. "They want to cut off the buses and jump in front. But remember, you only have one or two kids to deliver. We have 90 children on a bus, so I think we should have a higher priority."

Jeff O’Brien can be reached at 990-8957 or jeff.obrien@hbcpub.com.