looking for opinions on safety standards

[classadriver]

School Bus safety

Have you ever thought about school bus safety?

On December 16,2008 my 3 year old son come home from school with a broken collar bone due to an a incident on a school bus.
As of this moment it is my understanding that busses are not required to be equipped with seat belts that would have prevented this.
State law in IL. Requires me to put my child in a car seat .if I was to have an accident with my child not in a car seat.
I have no doubt that at least I would be criminally charged for no less than reckless endangerment of a child.
My son was forced to transfer to another school bus even after he told them he didn’t want to ride the other bus he wanted them to call his mother to come pick him up.
No contact to his parents even though the bus transfer took place at a public school that has our number in the office because we have 2 other children that attend there.
Even when the busses are equipped with two way radios the driver made no attempt to seek medical attention for my 3 yr old son.
What would you do?

my wife says sleep on it.

the driver is required to wear a seat belt but the freaking cargo does not have to be secure.

the state of IL. is such a wonderful place to live
the dot who I donated several thousands of dollars to over the years could give me a ticket for not having my cargo secured why should a school bus be different?

 

[Suds43]

I'd be hiring a lawyer. No need to sleep on anything.
In NY it's mandatory that all school buses have seat belts for all passengers. Ill needs to get with the times!!!!!

 

[Streakn1]

I would sue the school board for at minimum the medical bills for your child if they are'nt already paying. Also go after the bus driver(s) and bus service for negligence. the only transporting of your child should have been by you the parents or an ambulance once the child was injured in my opinion. Especially if the child was transferred bus to bus at a school! I assume that since a bus change occurred, it was due to the first being in a accident, or was your child pushed or punched by another?

 

[classadriver]

I dont know all the details as of yet my son was drugged at the hospital he was awake when I first talked to him so I kinda want to talk to the children on the bus that was setting around him.I know the bus was not in wreck or anything.but we are talking about roads that are not very well maintained and bus drivers that expedite our kids home.

 

[EagleRiverWI]

When I drove a school bus 22 years ago , the seat belt question came up. This was back when a gas powered school bus got hit by a drunk in KY and started on fire, killing a lot of kids. There is a sign marking the spot on I 71.
When our safety guy was interviewed by the local TV station, he mentioned some problems with seat belts. The biggest problem was evacuating the bus in a hurry when everyone is belted in and panicing. Some people have seat belt cutters in their cars, but what do you do when you have 50 kids and the driver is injured or dead.
Minor problems would be enforcing seat belt use while you are moving and kids hitting each other with the belts. Its been 22 years and the only solution they came up with, that does not potentially make things worse is padding on the seat back in front of you.

 

[cheri1122]

Class A: did the bus your son was on have a cc camera? Many school districts have installed them to aid in resolving disputes and improve behavior of the passengers. The seat belt issue is a tough one, though, with no good answer.

 

[pelicn]

I'm still trying to figure out how a broken collar bone could result from a badly maintained road. You seem to have little detail on what actually occurred on the bus, and you say it wasn't an accident, so how would seat belts change anything? I'm confused, but I do hope your little guy feels better soon.

 

[classadriver]

I am still trying to figure anything out.
he says no-one pushed him.maybe he just feel asleep anf fell out i dont know yet.school was canceled today.

 

[jaminjim]

Why would a Three year old be on a school bus anyway? What the heck are they teaching three year olds at school?

 

[pelicn]

Heck Jammin, by the time a kid hits kindergarten now, they can read, write and do algebra...they just forget it by the time they reach high school

 

[jaminjim]

I must have been a slow learner, I didn't start Kindergarten untill I was 14 years old.

 

[classadriver]

I am not sure if its worth it.I am really proud of my son but you are right why even have 3 yr olds on busses.

he goes to headstart and what they call pre-k
to me its a great program at headstart they learn alot they make sure they are counting and abc stuff a little art interaction with other children the same age. they take them on field trips like bowling,the zoo,firstations just loads of activity.and since its a small town the zoo is like 80 miles away the bolwing alley is 30 and so the headstart bus they use is a smaller bus that will only hold 20 or so its equipped with seat belts and I would say its safe transport.

but the problem I have is the headstart bus that picks children up for school does not come out to my part of the county cause there is not enough in the program.
so grand-pa takes him in town everymorning.my wife is a full time student at a cc about 30 miles from home and has to leave before time for him to go.

but once the headstart transports him the 5 or 6 blocks to pre-k
he is sent home on a regular bus full of kids from pre-k to high school.and these busses have no saftey restraints at all and when the seat back blocks the drivers view whats she able to see.you would think a driver would at least make the kid this size sit where they could be seen.