School buses are well known to be the safest street vehicles you can travel in. They're so safe, in fact, that the most dangerous place around a school bus can be outside it. Generally speaking, a student is at least as likely to be hurt when near the bus - such as when exiting or waiting to board - as they are when inside.
This is especially true if the student has to cross in front of the bus to reach their home on the other side. There's a risk that the driver might lose track of small children who disappear in front of the bus's nose, and pull forward too soon. In addition, there's the ever-present danger of illegal stop-arm passing, which could lead to other drivers striking the child as they walk around the other side.
The solution to this is simple: mandate doorside pick-ups and drop-offs across your bus fleet.
How Do Doorside Dropoff/Pickup Policies Improve Student Safety?
If the student never has to cross in front of the bus or cross the street to get home, they will be vastly safer. It's that simple. Instances of cars attempting to pass a bus on the right, potentially jumping the curb to do so, are vanishingly rare.
If the child can step right off the bus to their front yard, or at least the sidewalk leading to it, they are much less likely to be accidentally hit by the bus or by other drivers. Likewise, when waiting for the bus in the morning, they'll be far safer if they can step right onto it without crossing the street.
This can be difficult to arrange in terms of bus routing, but BusBoss has you covered. Our industry-leading bus routing software suite allows you to specify doorside dropoffs/pickups when building routes, and even lets you set them by grade. So, that simple safety upgrade can be part of your routing from day one, and improve student safety throughout the year.
That's not the only way we focus on safety either. From designating "no go" zones which are unsafe for children, to creating alternate routes to go around heavy traffic, we place a strong emphasis on always protecting your most precious cargo.
If you're looking for effective and affordable ways to improve safety across your bus routes, just contact us to learn more.
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PRESIDENT
Sonia has been involved with BusBoss since the late 1990’s, and has personally overseen many projects for various customers ranging from large urban and suburban districts to smaller rural school districts from all over the country.