Bus Accident

Accident.

The word strikes fear into everyone who hears it. Who is it? What happened? Is everyone okay? The fear seems to double when there is a school bus involved. Bus accidents are scary things, though sometimes the accident can be something as simple as the bus driver hitting a stop sign, getting stuck in the mud, or getting the bus hung up on a fire hydrant (true story!). The accident could be as severe as a roll over or head on collision. These accidents can be caused by the bus drivers, other motorists, and that random garbage can that attacks the bus (they're vicious!!).

The question then becomes, "What to do in the case of an emergency involving a school bus?"

1. Don't panic. - This applies to school bus drivers as well as parents. Assess the situation. Find out what happened and then formulate a plan. If the bus is simply stuck in the mud, and there are no injuries, simply come and pick up your child from the bus or wait for the bus to get pulled out of the mud and resume regular route. The bus driver is trained to do everything in his/her power to ensure the safety of your child, even in the most extreme circumstances.

2. Injuries? If there are injuries, we call the appropriate medical personnel to come and assess your child and let them take the appropriate action necessary to ensure the safety of your child. We already do this for children that have asthma attacks, seizures, and other medical conditions on the bus that may require attention, though those are categorized as medical emergencies.

3. Supply information. Before your child starts riding the bus, we ask that you fill out an information form. This includes your child's name, address, parent's names, phone number, grade level, school, medical conditions, and who to contact in the case of an emergency. Please ensure that all bus drivers that transport your child have this information and that you keep it updated. There is nothing worse than trying to call you to notify you about a problem your child is having and finding out the phone number has been disconnected, or worse, that the school does not have updated information for your child. *** For younger children, writing in a sharpie permanent marker on the inside of their school bag with their name, and phone number, is helpful in helping me identify your child.***

4. Teach your child the basics. One of the best things for a child to know is the basics of name, phone number, parent name, and address. I once had a child who accidentally got on my bus and then realized that she should have boarded a completely different bus. She was in kindergarten and she came up to me and said, "My name is X, My moms name is X, I live at XXXXXXX, my phone number is 555-1234, can you call my mom and tell her where I am?" I contacted the bus shop, they contacted the mother (who as it turned out is also a bus driver) and the situation was resolved.

5. Severity - If the accident is more severe, such as a head on collision or the bus got rear-ended, find out if your child is going to the hospital, and then meet your child at the hospital or come pick your child up at either the accident site or a central location such as a school. Be aware that emotions will be running high as your child is understandably scared. In most cases where the accident was not severe enough to warrant all children going to the hospital, the bus shop will send a spare bus to pick up the children who are fine and just shaken up to either bring back home, or on to school, depending on the time of day. You, as a parent, do have the right to decide whether your child will just get on the other bus, or if you will come pick him/her up at the scene. Often times, we try to remove the children from the scene as fast as possible (once released by medical personnel) as we do not want to frighten them any more than they already are. Additionally for something such as the bus getting stuck in the mud, or a minor fender bender where there were no injuries at all, we will notify you as soon as possible, but rest assured your child will be taken care of and transported to the appropriate place.


Accident free!

The Bus Driver

Things your Bus Driver wants you to know but won't tell you part 2

A while back I posted a blog entitled Things your Bus Driver wants you to know, but won't tell you and decided it was time to post a second part to this.

1. Patience - Please be patient with us, we may get held up by traffic, trains, other children acting out, other parents who stop us to talk at the stop, etc. It happens, just be patient with us, we will eventually get your child home one way or another.

2. Calling the bus shop the nanosecond your child does not walk through the door is not okay. This irritates the secretaries who are dealing with fights, people running our stop signs, and bus drivers having issues. Adding to their stress by being impolite, or cussing at them because the bus is a few minutes behind will NOT solve the issue. Instead, I suggest watching out your window. If the bus passes by and your child does NOT get off from the bus, then please do call us.

3. Your child may have fallen asleep. Hard to believe, but it happens all the time, especially to your younger children who have not quite mastered the art of staying awake on a moving vehicle. If we pass by your stop because your child is asleep, the child is NOT where I can actively see him/her in my rear view mirror. It happens, we simply circle the block if possible, or return to the stop at the end of the route.

4. If your child falls asleep and misses his/her stop, it is not fair to the other children to make them wait for your child. Accept that once your child has been found and determined to be asleep, you can do one of two things. A. Get your butt out of the house, in your own vehicle, and come GET your child at another stop. OR B. Wait until the bus driver has time to bring your child back. Yes, this means your child will have to ride the bus until the end of the route. If your child is lucky to be on a bus that simply circles the block, coming back by your house, we will stop then.

5. Yelling at us because your child fell asleep is NOT our problem. Put your child to bed. If he/she was in bed and asleep by 7-8 pm instead of out at Wal-Mart at 11 pm when you decide you just HAVE to go shopping, he/she would NOT have fallen asleep on my bus.

6. If you are worried about your child not getting off the bus, STAND AT THE STOP AND WAIT FOR YOUR CHILD!!!! Get a lawn chair and wait. If a driver sees you waiting, he/she is more likely to stop and you will not miss your child getting off the bus. This is especially helpful for "sleeper" children.


To be Continued...

The Bus Driver

Hat Lady and a Reminder

I was recently called in for a last minute field trip and while I was sitting quietly waiting for the baseball team to complete their game, I took the time to reflect. A lot has happened over the last few years. My life has been sort of like a patchwork quilt. I moved down to where I am now for a job in 2004, the job did not work out, and two years later in 2006, I found the job that I enjoy the most.

Driving a school bus comes with its up's and down's and usually has bumps along the road that can only be described as lessons. Some of them good, some of them not so good, but most of the time lessons learned well. Being a bus driver doesn't pay glamorously of course, so I needed to secure a second job. That's where transit came into play. I was still driving a bus, just my clientele was different. I had people like Negative Ned, Milk Lady, Mrs. Elderly, and most memorable was Hat Lady. I'm sorry to report that Hat Lady has passed away. She was such an influence on my life in that she never wavered in her faith. Rest in peace, Ms. Emma.

So, I'm sitting and reflecting on this rainy day and I recall an interaction that I had with a particularly troublesome student. Bon-Bon Girl is a very challenging girl. This incident happened sometime last year and has stuck in my mind as one of the times that I've been influential as a bus driver. Bon-Bon Girl had a bad habit of disobeying substitutes and refusing to sit in her assigned seat and one hot afternoon, we got into it. She and I had a shouting match, a standoff, and ultimately a stare down in which I won, she lost. She spent the majority of the trip quipping things under her breath and basically digging herself a deeper hole. I had fully intended on writing her up for her awful behavior until she did something that surprised me. Before she got off the bus that afternoon, she stopped, and turned to me and said, "I'm sorry Ms. Bus Driver, I had a bad day at school and I should not have taken it on the bus."

I accepted her apology and drove home that afternoon with her still on my mind. I wrestled with the proper course of action. I did have the video tape pulled in case I decided to proceed and write her up, but then I weighed what would I want someone to do if I had behaved similarly. Ultimately I chose NOT to write her up, though I would have been justified in doing so. A day and a half later, I was riding that same bus with the regular driver, and apparently the incident had been on Bon-Bon Girl's mind because she came up to me and asked me directly if I had written her up for the behavior.

I told her that I know she can behave better on the bus, and that due to her apology, I chose not to write her up. That seemed to have a very DEEP impact on her because further down the line, when I drove that bus again as a substitute, she did not give me any trouble. In fact, she became one of the ones that I can depend on to tell me changes in the bus route. Sometimes the smallest display of kindness can mean a lot to a troubled child. Sometimes children need understanding rather than being written up.

Sometimes,

The Bus Driver

Screamer Boy Returns

I was reviewing some of my older blog posts and came across this one involving Screamer Boy. For those who do not recall, Screamer Boy was one of the riders who was very obnoxious when he rode the bus. He insisted on causing trouble and giving me problem after problem. Recently though, I had the pleasure of running into Screamer Boy again.

He was placed in Alternative school and had grown up and matured quite a bit from the time I transported him back in 2009. He recognized me when I was driving a different bus over to the Alternative school to drop him and others off, and he came up and asked if I remembered him. I asked him to refresh my memory, and then he mentioned the screaming, and it all came back to me. I smiled and said, "Yes I do remember you!" Then much to my surprise he said, "I'm sorry for the way I acted on the bus those days."

Wow.

For him to apologize was huge. For him to recall what he did in 2009 to irritate me and still apologize was impressive. I was floored by his honest and heartfelt apology. I thanked him for apologizing and joked about how he was really obnoxious. He seemed to be relieved that I harbored no hard feelings towards him and that I could joke around as much as the next person. They really do mature and grow up.


Stunned,

The Bus Driver

The Hair Weave

Things around here have been fairly mundane. Every now and again I'll have a child who says something cute, but by the time I get home, I'm too far focused on other daily errands that I forget the whole thing. This incident, however, really stuck out in my mind as one of the more memorable ones. It serves to remind me that there is NEVER a dull moment when driving the big yellow limo.

The day started out very normal and in the afternoon, I found myself on a bus that I rarely have to drive. The driver is good about leaving a route description and "cheat sheets" with exact directions on how to turn, and where to stop. The bus serves a full area that requires the bus to do two runs in the morning, and three in the afternoon. I was driving the first run full of elementary kids and they happen to be behaving. Most of them are staying seated and I am fairly able to concentrate on the directions given. I did have to yell a few times to get them to quiet down, but mostly, I'm proud to say that the regular driver has done a fantastic job with those children.

They were quiet... too quiet.... Then chaos breaks loose. A bunch of girls stand up and I hear one of them say - "OOOOHHHH she ripped out her HAIR!!"

Oh boy. Now a hair weave is a very expensive piece of hair that is braided into existing hair. Usually African Americans pay good money (200 some odd dollars - so I've heard) to get hair weaves put in their hair. Why a parent would spend this kind of money on their child's hair is beyond me! As one can imagine, if it is pulled out.. or yanked, in this case, it is VERY painful.

Unfortunately I did not actually SEE anything being done because these girls were fighting below seat level. Though it is disconcerting to see a child walk up the aisle teary eyed with her hair in hand. I felt bad for the kid but really, I can't exactly fix it.

What exactly do you DO in that situation?!

The Bus Driver.

The Day I Quit Transit

Wednesday, November 7, 2012 was... one big emotional day. I started the day off with a headache, called out from the bus shop, still didn't feel good by the time it was time for class, so took that time off too. I had to meet someone at 10:45 am ish, but the meeting got pushed to 11:30. So I took a few minutes and ran over to transit to pick up my Wednesday night schedule. That's when everything changed.

Usually I am in and out of the office in a few minutes, with a few perfunctory polite words to C the schedule supervisor. Within seconds of me stepping through the door, C says, "I need to talk to you about your time Ms. Bus Driver." I think, "Oh great, what now?" and turn to face her.

Several months back, we had a meeting which was a "get on the same page" meeting where she tried to get me fired for taking time off, violating the time off policy, and basically not doing my job. The meeting was between me, the big bossman J, and her. We each had an opportunity to speak and when it was my turn to speak, C was very rude and disrespectful, and insisted on scoffing and trying to speak over me. I have had a target on my back since I started working for Transit.

I have had incidents in the past where C has complained about one thing or another and where no matter what I do/did, it wasn't going to be enough. For example, two weeks before the November 7 confrontation, she complained about the way I parked at Wal-Mart. Apparently the fact that I pull in the fire lane at Wal-Mart to drop off and pick up just like everyone else does must be wrong. I'm usually only there for a mere 5-10 minutes at any given interval.

Weeks before that it was my uniform shirts, and still weeks before that, it was any number of things such as ... gas in the bus (if the bus is left with less than 1/2 tank people complain and it comes back on me), on my cell phone (keeping in mind, I usually only call people for business on my phone), uniform shirts again (not wearing them on weekends - which again.. is bull), parking at K-mart (fire lane issue anyone?), taking x, y, and z, home and the time it took me to take them home within an hour and a half time frame when they live in 3 different areas of the county all about 12 miles apart and are picked up at 3 different spots as well. But back to the issue at hand.

C has another employee pull my time sheets and proceeds to tell me that I am to record time a certain way on the top part of my sheet while pointing to the top of the sheet. Fine, I can do that, no problem. I tell her that I will. Then she points to the bottom part of my sheet where I put my in and out times. We are supposed to record the time in and time out per stop (or stop set) in order for them to complete payroll properly.

I've recorded my time in and out the same way for four and a half years, and now she is calling into question the WAY I've been doing it. Now she wants times to be exact since after all no one can do it the way I've been doing it. Okay. Fine. Still feeling a little miffed, but no biggie, I can comply and I tell her so, very calmly.

Then she points out on my Monday sheet where I had 30 mins from the time I dropped off my last pick up and got back to transit. I politely pointed out that the bus had less than 1/4 tank of gas in it and needed to be refilled and that the fuel stop was marked down on my sheet. Having not succeeded in frustrating me, she switched tactics and claimed when I took Mrs. G to wherever, it always took exactly 1 hour.

As an aside and to explain how we keep time - Mrs. G lives 20 mins outside of town. So if Mrs. G has a pick up time at 8:30, I clock in at transit at 8:15. I get out to Mrs. G at 8:33 to 36 ish, pick her up, by the time we get back to town its about 8:55 and we are only at the outskirts of town. It takes 7 to 10 minutes to cross town. If she wants to go to Mc Donalds, it takes that time to go across town, so I'm dropping her off by 9:03-9:05, and another 7 to 10 minutes to cross town to go back to transit again, since transit is on opposite side of town than Mc Donalds. I clock back out at 9:15 though I may reach transit any time between 9:13 and 9:17. Again, all depending on traffic. I try to keep it consistent. Since I typically clock in and out on the 1/4 hour marks to make it easy to record time... I may be getting there at 8:18, and getting back at 9:18, but to keep it consistent and easy to calculate i just round down to the 15 minute mark. The same applies if I get there at 8:12... and out at 9:18.... I will round up to 8:15, then round down to 9:15, again keeping it consistent and actually shaving 2-4 mins off my actual time.

Then it dawned on me.... I realized that C was just trying to pick a fight. If there was a real issue with the way anyone was recording their time on their sheets that she should have called a company wide transit meeting in which case the issue should be discussed along with the proper way for recording time covered. I then told C that I was not going to argue and stood up. She said, "Its not about arguing." and I again repeated I am not going to argue and went to walk out the open door. She again tried to call after me and raised her voice to get me back inside the office.

I snapped. I turned around and pointed my finger at her and shouted at her, "C, I AM DONE! EVERY WEEK IT IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT, I AM DONE!" And with that, I walked out to my car while hearing her STILL trying to talk to me and get me to come back in the office.

I lost it. I cried. I had a break down right there in my car. I called my parents. I cried some more. I kept crying all the way to my 11:30 appointment. I cried when I left my 11:30 appointment to go to lunch with my friend. I cried at lunch. I called the big bossman J and told him effective Nov. 7, that I am giving my 2 weeks notice. He asked why. I told him that I could not work with C. I have tried for 4 and a half years and still cannot work with the woman. He said "Okay, that gives you more time to focus on your school, and I'll take care of it on this end. We'll work it out."

I cried after I got off the school bus. I cried off and on for the rest of the day. I am relieved, but at the same time, angry that I let her get to me, upset that I couldn't fix it, and frustrated. I will NOT be bullied! EVER!

I'm free.

Public Service Announcement for Parents and a General Update!

First off - I want to apologize to anyone still reading this blog for my lack of blogging. I started a new chapter in my life - namely going to school for Accounting, and the time has just not been there to enjoy a past time of blogging. Speaking of Accounting, I pulled a 4.0 GPA for Fall 2012 semester and made the president's list for my achievement. I'm proud of myself. By the end of this semester, I will be in possession of a certificate qualifying me as an "Office Accounting Specialist", which basically means I will have mastered the skills necessary to do basic office accounting procedures. Now, to just get a job in the field!

In other news, I quit transit in November due to some irreconcilable differences between myself and the schedule lady. One day, I will post about what sent me over the edge and caused me to quit. The good news now is that I have plenty of time to focus on college and pursuing a career that will be much better.

Now - on to the main reason for this post. This is a subject that all parents need to read and understand.

1. Your child's regular bus driver will eventually need a day off now and again. Chances are good they got sick and the absence is unplanned. So, usually, buses will have substitutes on them.

2. Please be patient with a substitute. They don't know your child personally like the regular bus driver does.

3. If your regular stop time is X. Please be AT the stop ready and waiting to go. The substitute will try to run the route on the same schedule as the regular bus driver.

4. If you see a bus that is a different number from the normal bus, but you see the bus picking up at OTHER stops that are along the route or near your house, chances are good, the bus route has a substitute who is driving a spare bus. Additionally, there may be a mechanical problem with the original bus, and often a regular bus driver will have to drive a spare. It happens.

5. If your children get on at two separate times, please make sure both are at their regularly scheduled stops. Don't tell me that I picked up your older child on the first run, but that your younger child did not get picked up especially since I come by your house TWICE. Your older child was AT the stop, your YOUNGER child WAS NOT.

6. Calling in on me and lying about the reason your child missed the bus is not an excuse. If you saw me coming and were AT the stop like you claimed you were, clearly I would have seen you and made a concerted effort to press the brake pedal.

7. Telling me how the regular driver does it does not help me. I am not the regular driver. I depend on other children to tell me where to go, and often (as was the case this morning) I only have a route description with ROADS only, no stops on it, so I am forced to look for children who should be AT their stops. (Sense a theme here?)

8. BE AT THE STOP - Not coming out of the house, not waiting at the doorway for the bus to roll by, not expecting the bus driver to beep the horn. Every other child can make an effort to be at the stop, yours should too.

9. Getting upset at me because I did not stop directly at your driveway but only 10 feet from it, is NOT a big deal. Deal with it, I'm not perfect. I'm human.

10. Have a nice day :)

The Bus Driver