Children and school bus stops

aspeck

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As many of you know, in the last few days we have had too many children killed at bus stops. About 18 miles from my house a 7 year old was killed yesterday. It is tragic, but not all of these incidents are equal. I have been hearing a steady barrage of needed to stop for school buses (true, correct, don't disagree ... used to drive a school bus), or people blaming the driver for not paying attention and not stopping. However, in the case of yesterday's death, the early indications are that a delivery box truck from a local electric supply company was making a delivery to the child's home. The driver was backing out of the driveway and unknowingly ran over the child and drove off. Terrible. Period. But this driver now has to live with this the rest of his life and the people attacking him for his not stopping is ridiculous! I am sure it could have been avoided. Yes, he is responsible for his truck. But why didn't the child move? There are so many variables. Unfortunately we live in a world that would rather attack than show compassion. This family lost a 7 year old son ... they need compassion. This driver will have to live with his actions all his life ... he needs compassion. The child's friends need support and compassion to deal with the loss of their friend at such a young age. The first responders have to deal with this and the aftermath ... they need compassion. The Bus driver who found the boy ... he needs compassion as do the kids that were on the bus that day. ... Oh to be a kinder, gentler society.

Sorry for the rant, just had to get it off my chest.
 

WIMUSKY

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I'm sure it's not over yet. The electric company will get sued as well as the driver. And they will lose.

Just a very bad situation no matter how a person looks at it....
 

Old Ironmaker

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That's a sad tragedy. Human error. That's a simple explanation for a complicated scenario. Our governments don't want to mandate businesses to spend revenue on safety that may effect many things. Back up cameras here may have saved a childs life. There is also technology that can stop a child walking blindly across a roadway when someone blows passed a stopped school bus. The cost is in the many millions. Here in Ontario legislation has been introduced to the House of Commons to make school bus seatbelts mandatory. A no brainer but there is great resistance due to the millions of dollars that it will cost. Many Bus businesses are losing money every year and our Gov's have to bail them out to maintain services. I'm sure it's similar in the USA.
 

MTboatguy

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It has indeed been a scary and sad week with all of this instances, and what is scary to me a buddy of mine called me on Wed to ask me to come down and start driving a school bus for him part time! I am now undecided after the week that has occurred..

:confused:
 

Old Ironmaker

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It has indeed been a scary and sad week with all of this instances, and what is scary to me a buddy of mine called me on Wed to ask me to come down and start driving a school bus for him part time! I am now undecided after the week that has occurred..

:confused:

Don't let what has happened change your view, the kids need you. I would venture a guess the odds of a School Bus fatality is very very high. As I said the kids need you MTboatguy.
 

aspeck

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It has indeed been a scary and sad week with all of this instances, and what is scary to me a buddy of mine called me on Wed to ask me to come down and start driving a school bus for him part time! I am now undecided after the week that has occurred..

:confused:

There were parts of being a school bus driver that I liked, and parts I hated. High School kids were a wee bit easier than Elementary students because the elementary kids would listen for about 30 seconds and then would forget what was said. The worst part was you couldn’t discipline any student (kick them off your bus) and the school district did not have your back and would not do anything. I had a boy punch a girl and break her jaw and the school district did nothing. I lobbied for a rider to watch the kids while I watched the road, but that never happened. In the end, I knew it was time to retire my school bus before I reacted to a kid or parent in a way that would get me in trouble.
 

Redfred1

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Could be a spin off off what's going on everywhere. You do you job; then 5 years later someone is on TV of Sexual Abuse or touching somewhere; and it has effected their life. I'm sick of hearing it!
 

poconojoe

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Rear cameras can help somewhat, but only to a degree. With all the forward collision and lane change safety devices, you would think that all vehicles would have something that would actually stop the vehicle in its tracks if it detects anyone in its path. Especially going in reverse. It should be built into every vehicle.
 

roscoe

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That would probably also prevent you from backing up and connecting to your boat trailer. Or keep you from backing past your garbage can, or up to a tree as you back out of the garage.
 

aspeck

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I think all these safety improvements sometimes make us less safe because we rely on them instead of looking around and knowing our surroundings ...just something to think about ...
 

poconojoe

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That would probably also prevent you from backing up and connecting to your boat trailer. Or keep you from backing past your garbage can, or up to a tree as you back out of the garage.
With today's technology one would think such a device could distinguish between a person and an inanimate object. It would probably be expensive at first, but once implemented into millions of vehicles the price would balance out.
Am I dreaming?
 

roscoe

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With today's technology one would think such a device could distinguish between a person and an inanimate object. It would probably be expensive at first, but once implemented into millions of vehicles the price would balance out.
Am I dreaming?

Sure, from the right distance, the right angle, the right light, the right camera, the right software.
But from bumper level and a distance of 4 ' away, I bet my gray work pants look just like the trunk of a maple tree.

Would be great if these types of accidents, or all accidents didn't happen, but ... not gonna happen.

Friend of mine backed over and killed her granddaughter.
The dad walked around the side of the garage, the mom was standing 15' away, the 2 year old chased after dad...but stopped and crawled under the car, directly behind the front passenger tire and under the mirror. Mom thought the kid was with dad, or likely just forgot about the little girl. No way grandma or any software was gonna prevent this one.

Now its grandmas fault that neither parent was watching the girl. Her son and daughter-in-law haven't talked to her in about 5 years.
 

dingbat

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You can do things to minimize the odds of an event...but an “accident” by definition can not be deterred....
 

WIMUSKY

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They already have technology in place to stop cars if they're about to rearend someone, its just a matter of time they'll do the same 4 the back of the vehicle....

They already have warning systems, just need the brakes to be applied at a certain distance...
 
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Redfred1

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I blame it on human error. Seems like the problem is in the larger Districts. Our taxes go to a smaller one; ( one HS; one Middle; 3 other). They got property available for expansion; The School Board changes every 3 years; has open meetings; post a monthly news letter. They are middle age people (5) who think! (Only know of one BoBo; bought some Propane (Obama) buses;they didn't stay). The School Cops are all around the schools; might even see one following a Bus. They also have what I call spotters. They were hated when I was in the service on base. Don't know who they are; or how many; but they can report you to the Cops; and you will be fined. Sounds CS; but it works. I've got 2 grand kids that graduated from there.
 
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