School buses being one of the safest forms of transportations to school must be considered by every parent with a child who attends their school. Through various solutions utilized by school buses, from our environment to traffic blocks, school buses tackle a number of issues which can be faced in securing the safety of your children.
With the help of telematics solutions and technology, parents would not worry about their children since there are ways where they could monitor their children on school buses from the moment they stepped in the bus, to the time they go back home.
Safety issues of the best ride and its solutions
There are certain safety measures that must be considered in order to ensure school bus safety.
- Waiting for the school bus
There is no need to rush since school buses are scheduled to arrive at a certain time in your front yard.
Issue: While waiting for the bus, the student may be alone. They may rush to the school bus stop if they are late and could be careless while crossing the road.
RFID tags can help children track the location of the bus and the students. The fear of losing the student will be eliminated since the parents know how to track and monitor them.
- Entering the school bus
There are certain dangers in entering the school bus since children are relatively prone to accidents for being careless.
Issue: There is danger present if the students wait too close to the arriving bus.
Solution: Children entering the bus must not rush. The driver might not be able to see them if they are in a blind spot or danger zone. Thus, students must maintain a single line when entering the bus. Children must use the rails when getting on the bus.
- Seat belts
There have 63,000 lives around the world who have been saved by using seat belts from 2008 to 2012.
Issue: This is one particular issue since most school buses do not require seatbelts which means children are free to walk around or stand in the bus while it is running which can compromise their safety.
Solution: Installation of seat belts must be made compulsory in every school bus. Seat belts must be installed in such a way that it is useful for the children rather than hurting them.
- Behavior inside the bus
Since they are children, it is only natural that they make noise, sometimes fight, or make unnecessary behavior inside the bus.
Issue: If the students are being too noisy, it can distract the driver from focusing on their route which might an accident. Children who also eat and drink on the bus might affect the children. The trash might not be well disposed, and residues might contaminate the bus floor and seats.
Solution: Parents should also contribute to solving this problem by teaching their children with the right behavior and attitude when riding the school bus. Waving hands or putting head out of the window may result in serious injury. A supervisor, aside from the driver must be appointed to monitor the children while the bus takes them to school.
- Getting out of the bus
By stepping out of the bus, accidents are most likely to happen. Their behavior and actions after getting out of the bus such as running, playing with each other and racing to the school might cause incidents that put their safety to danger. Simple negligence from the driver or supervisor can result in serious injuries or even death.
Issue: Children may not realize how important their distance from the school bus is. Standing too close to the bus after getting out may cause some accidents.
Solution: There should be an adult to teach the students the safety rules that each must observe while getting out of the bus. They must be well-taught about the danger zones around the bus, in the street, where they should themselves from.
Now that’s officially proven
Statistically, buses travel more than 4 billion miles with more than 24 million students everyday around the world. With that said, the death rate of school buses per 100 million miles travelled is 0.2 which is eight times higher than automobile deaths. These statistics clearly shows that school bus if a far better mode of transportation than automobiles.
Factors that contributes to the safety of school bus
There are countless factors which can help secure the safety of your children while on a school bus. Abovementioned are some of the factors which you can consider. Moreover, experienced drivers are usually allotted to make a more comfortable and safer ride for students and children.
It’s been proven how school buses are a part of the lives of students from pre-school to high school. There are so much issues and concerns surrounding the school bus transportation and it can be solved easily by parents and the students themselves.