On the first official day of the 2010 School Transportation News EXPO, attendees were welcomed by a panel of industry experts discussing the risks and consequences of distracted driving and ways to deter it.

With the recent federal call to arms over the issue of texting while driving, STN EXPO attendees were given a bird’s eye view of the issue during the mid-day session “Avoiding Driver Distraction.” Moderated by Cheryl Wolf from Lafayette School Corporation near Indianapolis, panelists Dr. David Strayer from the University of Utah, Spencer McDonald of consultant company Thinking Driver in Vancouver, Peter Lawrence of Fairport CSD in upstate New York, and Dick Fischer of Trans-Consult of not only defined all the specifics surrounding the dangers of driving while either talking or texting on a cell phone, but broke down a number of different on-road distractions into three types: physical, cognitive and a combination of more than one.

“We are facing an epidemic of driver distraction that could get worse before it gets better,” said Dr. Strayer, whose father was a bus driver.

Strayer’s research has been cited by the U.S. Department of Transportation as it considers rulemaking to prohibit all commercial drivers from using any cell phone or mobile electronic device while behind the wheel.

The panelist described the risks involved with this dangerous practice, one that has led to close to 6,000 deaths in 2008 and more than half a million injuries according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Similarly, the recently published Minnesota Motor Vehicle Crash Facts 2009 reported that 19.1 percent of 314 crashes attributed to school bus drivers were due to driver distraction, while 19.5 percent of the 522 crashes caused by other drivers were caused by some type of distraction.

Peter Lawrence offered a list of the top 10 driver distractions for school bus drivers. The list included student behavior on the bus, outside distractions such as bicyclists, emergency vehicles and drivers operating unfamiliar vehicles, as in the case with substitute drivers.

“This is something I am very passionate about,” said Lawrence during the July 25 opening general session.

The session ended with a final thought from each panelist, including Fischer, who spoke about a study done by Greyhound in the 1950s which showed that drivers with lower I.Q.s had less problems with distractions.

“I’m not suggesting that we hire all dummies, though,” joked Fischer.

Immediately following the general session, attendees dove headfirst into the conference’s first wound of workshops, which included a class on how to bring your special needs transportation to the next level by EXPO regulars Alexandra Robinson, Launi Schmutz and Ted Finlayson-Schueler. The trio talked about understanding each individual’s role in the process and how to strengthen working relationships between the different links in the chain to help make the ride a smooth transition between home and school for special needs students.

“Don’t wait to be invited to an IEP meeting” said Robinson. “There is no ‘they’ in this situation. It has to be an ‘us’ situation.”

The reality of students left on school buses was also discussed during Sunday afternoon’s session. Kathy Furneaux, executive director at the Pupil Transportation Safety Institute, joined Denver Public Schools’ Pauline Gervais and Washoe County (Reno) School District’s Margo Medeiros-Myers to help attendees see the bus ride, and being left behind by the driver after the route, through a child’s eye. They stressed the idea that prevention was the best medicine for this “disorder.” The session began with a video of a child left on one of Gervais’ buses, which caused more than one attendees’ eyes to well up with tears.

“This is 15 minutes of this little girl being terrorized,” said Gervais.