Hats off to bus driver Jamal Richards and bus monitor Esther Rivera, the heroes who saved four students with disabilities from not only injuries but potentially a lot worse when their school bus erupted into flames late last week in the Bronx.
Richards was driving the morning route on Friday when he smelled burning wires, and moments later a fire started inside the dashboard. Both he and Rivera were hailed by employer Atlantic Express for acting quickly in getting the four children, three in wheelchairs and one who uses a walker, off the bus and to safety. There were no injuries reported.
Obviously, the incident could have turned tragic. Just look at the photos. Richards told the New York Daily News that he "didn't have time to think about it" and merely acted as he had been trained.
It's precisely that, training, that bus drivers and monitors for children with disabilities will need more of in light of the new federal rule mandating three-point lap/shoulder belt systems on all newly manufactured small school buses as of September 2011. I've talked to some in the industry who said managing student behavior shouldn't change all that much with the introduction of the seat belts because they don't differ that much from the two-point lap belts that have been required for years. But that strikes me as a bit odd for an industry that prides itself in obsessing over the smallest safety details.
Yes, children are trained by their parents from birth, or at least they should be, on how to wear seat belts. But nothing can be assumed by pupil transporters when it comes to life and death. And operators and training managers for special needs routes have taken notice.
With the details still to be worked out, this summer's STN EXPO Conference in Reno, Nev., July 24-28, plans to present a new wrinkle to the issue of special needs evacuation training: preparing for the lap/shoulder belt mandate in Type A buses. Just as school districts will be forced to plan for potentially more bus price increases, they must also rethink how they perform evacuation training. And it could also provide some lessons learned for school districts that elect to voluntarily purchase large school buses equipped with the lap/shoulder restraints.
Like I said, we're still putting together the details, but we hope to bring attendees an informative, hands-on workshop that can be used to prepare the entire industry for what lies ahead. And we hope Jamal and Esther can be there.