TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE NOTE
School Business Services
School Transportation Management Section
Department of Education
John L. Winn, Commissioner
No. T-05-13
Contact:
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Julie Wammack
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(850)
245-9795
SC 205-9795
DATE:
March 30, 2005
TO:
School District Transportation Directors
FROM:
Charlie Hood, Director, School Transportation
SUBJECT: Safety Reminders
Because access to educational programs is critical to each student’s success, the School
Transportation Management Section applauds school districts and charter schools for safely
transporting eligible students to and from school each day. School buses remain the safest mode
of travel for students. According to the National Academy of Sciences, students transported by
school buses comprise less than two percent of the students killed in traffic crashes each year
during normal school travel hours in the United States. Sadly, however, five students have been
killed this school year in Florida at or near bus stops, and a sixth student was killed when her bus
collided with another vehicle. Investigations are not completed on these crashes, but all
appeared to involve extremely unusual circumstances. Nevertheless, we believe it is important
to review the circumstances of these crashes, as many of you have already done, to see if there
are any lessons that can be learned.
In October 2004 there was a student struck and killed by a vehicle after she disembarked from
her bus and attempted to cross a six-lane highway on her way home. In November 2004 a
student was killed and her bus driver seriously injured when their school bus apparently ran a
stop sign and collided with another vehicle. Also in November 2004 a student was killed when
her book bag was apparently caught in the door of her bus, and she was dragged and run over by
the rear wheels. In January 2005 two more students were killed at or near bus stops. The first
student was killed when an approaching private car, whose driver may have experienced an
epileptic seizure, careened into him and into a subdivision wall, narrowly missing other students.
Another student was killed at a school bus stop inside an apartment complex by a pickup truck
driver who ran over a concrete parking barrier and a curb after she apparently hit her accelerator
rather than her brake pedal. In February 2005 a student was struck and killed by a private
vehicle as she attempted to cross a multi-lane highway after she had been dropped off by a
substitute school bus driver on the wrong side of the road.
All of us in Florida’s student transportation community know that school buses remain the safest
vehicles on the road, and we know that our school bus drivers meet stringent employment
TAN T-05-13 Safety Reminders
March 30, 2005
Page Two
qualifications and training requirements to prepare them to drive our students safely to and from
school. We want to emphasize the importance of school bus operators remaining vigilant and
consistently adhering to the training and safety practices they have been taught. It appears from
preliminary reports that two of the six recent fatalities were caused primarily by school bus
operator error, but they all remind us of the importance of our jobs and our responsibility to be
constantly attentive to keeping children safe.
To help you in your training and awareness efforts, we have attached a tri-fold brochure that we
encourage you to print. This brochure contains important school bus stop and loading zone
safety tips. Please review the circumstances of the recent crashes in your school bus driver
training and distribute the attached brochure to all bus drivers and attendants in your district.
We have also attached a one-page flyer that emphasizes the importance of every school bus
driver wearing his or her seat belt properly. We encourage you to post it on the bulletin boards
in your bus driver and attendants’ lounges to remind the drivers that the driver’s and the
students’ seat belts must be used while the school bus is in transit.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact our office at (850) 245-9795 or e-mail
Ronnie.McCallister@fldoe.org.
CFH:jw
Attachments:
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Tri-fold brochure
One-page flyer
cc:
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Charter Schools
School Bus Driver Trainers
