A proposal before the North Carolina Board of Education would require
drivers to watch for traffic at each stop and give hand signals to
students crossing in front of the bus when they feel the coast is clear.
The recommendations come from the National School Transportation Specifications and Procedures. The State Board of Educators has been considering the change since meeting with consultants earlier this year and hearing positive reviews from two test programs, one in Guilford County.
The changes will be discussed at the state Board of Education meeting on Thursday in Raleigh. If approved, the hand gesture could be included in state-mandated training for school bus drivers later this year and put into practice starting in January.
At least one school advocate in the Winston-Salem area believes questions about drivers’ liability in the event of an accident should be addressed before the rules are changed.
“How about if you give a signal for a child to cross and suddenly a car comes around the bend and a child is hit? Is that bus driver going to be held liable?” wonders Angie Vaughn, outgoing president of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Parent Teacher Association Council. “I think it’s a good idea, but I think there are a lot of things that need to be worked out first.”
Vaughn would also like to see more drivers take responsibility and reduce the danger to children around bus stops.
“There are many times that people are busy — they are on their phone, they are driving listening to music, they are talking to someone else — and they don’t even notice the school bus stopped with the lights on and the stop arm out,” said Vaughn.
The state Board of Education said state numbers show that 13 deaths since 1999 happened while kids were getting on or off a school bus. Additional data cited by state educators show between 3,000 and 3,500 cars a day illegally pass a stopped school bus.
Linda Thompson said she hopes no one ignores stop signs on the bus when her grandson is on it. He’s still taking the bus daily to get to day care. She meets him at the stop to walk him home.
“Some kids, they don’t even know if it’s clear for them to cross the road, they just dart out there. But if someone is out there saying, ‘No, no; wait,’ directing them across like a school guard, yeah that would help out a lot,” said Thompson.
The recommendations come from the National School Transportation Specifications and Procedures. The State Board of Educators has been considering the change since meeting with consultants earlier this year and hearing positive reviews from two test programs, one in Guilford County.
The changes will be discussed at the state Board of Education meeting on Thursday in Raleigh. If approved, the hand gesture could be included in state-mandated training for school bus drivers later this year and put into practice starting in January.
At least one school advocate in the Winston-Salem area believes questions about drivers’ liability in the event of an accident should be addressed before the rules are changed.
“How about if you give a signal for a child to cross and suddenly a car comes around the bend and a child is hit? Is that bus driver going to be held liable?” wonders Angie Vaughn, outgoing president of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Parent Teacher Association Council. “I think it’s a good idea, but I think there are a lot of things that need to be worked out first.”
Vaughn would also like to see more drivers take responsibility and reduce the danger to children around bus stops.
“There are many times that people are busy — they are on their phone, they are driving listening to music, they are talking to someone else — and they don’t even notice the school bus stopped with the lights on and the stop arm out,” said Vaughn.
The state Board of Education said state numbers show that 13 deaths since 1999 happened while kids were getting on or off a school bus. Additional data cited by state educators show between 3,000 and 3,500 cars a day illegally pass a stopped school bus.
Linda Thompson said she hopes no one ignores stop signs on the bus when her grandson is on it. He’s still taking the bus daily to get to day care. She meets him at the stop to walk him home.
“Some kids, they don’t even know if it’s clear for them to cross the road, they just dart out there. But if someone is out there saying, ‘No, no; wait,’ directing them across like a school guard, yeah that would help out a lot,” said Thompson.
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