Safety No. 1 priority for school buses, drivers

Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Gallery (click any photo to view the gallery)
FCPS drivers, like Mindy Ramos, always check under the hood before taking a school bus off the lot.

FCPS drivers, like Mindy Ramos, always check under the hood before taking a school bus off the lot.

FCPS drivers, like Mindy Ramos, always check under the hood before taking a school bus off the lot.The batteries are actually stored in a side compartment, rather than next to the engine.Ramos routinely checks gauges on the control panel, along with interior lights, exits and the pop-out windows.Drivers go through a lot of pre-screening and on-the-road training before they can transport students.

When children climb aboard FCPS school buses, their families can rest assured the drivers are well-prepared, vigilant guardians of the students’ safety. They can also be confident the buses are well-maintained and continually monitored.

“First is safety,” says Mindy Ramos, who’s been driving for Fayette County Public Schools nearly eight years.

Her day starts well before dawn when she snaps on a flashlight for the pre-trip inspection, which is required every time a bus leaves a Transportation Department lot. (Each bus also undergoes a full maintenance inspection every 20 days.)

Wiring and hoses, fluid levels and lug nuts, flashing lights and brake pressure – Ramos eyeballs everything inside and outside her bus, including the nine exits. (A school bus has four escape windows, three doors and two roof hatches.)

“In older buses, it took a rocket scientist to figure out how to open the hatches,” said Anthony King, a driver trainer with FCPS for 22 years. Now, a handle on each hatch makes it easy.

“We also have drills to teach the kids how to get off the bus,” King said. “We stress the importance of leaving everything – personal belongings, backpacks, instruments – and getting your body off the bus.”

Drivers rely on a manifest to know who’s riding their bus and to account for everyone – whether on a routine route or in an emergency. Color-coded tags also help drivers keep track of Early Start and kindergarten students and their assigned locations.

“We double-check the tags when they get on and off the bus,” Ramos noted.

Many of today’s safety features came along after the Carrollton bus crash some 20 years ago, one of the deadliest highway disasters in U.S. history. Among the innovations: pop-out emergency windows and a steel cage to protect the fuel tank. And instead of gasoline, school buses now run on diesel, which is less combustible.

“A bus, honestly, is built like a tank. You want something that’s very safe and secure because you’ve got a lot of lives on there,” said Steve Lane, transportation manager at the new bus garage off Old Frankfort Pike.

Students’ families also want to know the person behind the wheel is safe and secure.

King emphasized that bus drivers don’t just walk in off the street and head out with a busload of children the next day. Applicants first must pass a psychological evaluation, physical exam, drug testing, criminal background check and driving history check.

“You have to be squeaky clean to drive a school bus in Fayette County,” King said.

They also have to learn all the parts under the hood and all the features inside and outside a school bus. After the paperwork, candidates begin driver training, which includes a one-week class, about 15 hours practicing on the highway with an instructor like King and a road skills test. They then can earn a certified driver’s license, which qualifies them to drive a bus.

After three or four weeks, a driver is typically ready to handle a route with students aboard.

King said all the extensive preparations and daily precautions are essential, noting, “No one has more of a major responsibility than transporting an individual’s child.”

Related material: