Julie - ANY deer that close to the bus would be HUMONGOUS!! What a close call! Thankfully no one was hurt. Hopefully that was your first and last deer encounter!
The last time I hit a deer and totaled my car afterwards the state trooper was interviewing me to get his report straight. One of his questions was "which way was the deer headed?" I said "home probably."
Glen and Loretta
Marc, Jake, and Kirsten
Coachmen Futura 2000 2980 FK
08 Saturn Vue
01 GMC Sierra ext sportside 4x4
Yamaha EF2400is gen
2 official rallys!
Glad to see you didn't catch a deer. My husband (then boyfriend) and I went fishing on a Saturday morning years ago and on the way caught a deer. It was horrible. I'm glad your big fish, uh deer, got away!
Folks, part of the reason the kids walk forward is to help me learn where their houses are, especially when I was brand new to the route. Most times, I don't need them to do that anymore, but in this case, I had not remembered that "Peter" was on the bus because he doesn't ride very often, so was glad when I saw him get up to come forward (prior to seeing the deer).
If you think about it, when I rode the city bus in Milwaukee, I would walk forward when my stop was next, and when all the seats were full, people stood in the aisles. Just like on a subway (or the elevated train in Chicago). It's not something that's special or unique to our bus or our bus company. The only kids that come forward are the older kids. The younger ones stay in their seats until I stop at their house to let them off.
Not offering excuses, just trying to explain, as I've learned a LOT about school buses and the reasons for various rules that seem silly to us, since I started driving a school bus.
I would set up a rule that the students move at the stop prior to theirs. Keep the front seat for those students. When you load at the school the first ones off sit there and when they get off, next stop moves up before the bus moves. Noone is moving when the bus is moving. Much safer.
4 kids (One is my husband, but I sometimes wonder)
8 yr boy,9 yr girl,10 yr girl
01 International 4700
99 Dodge 2500 Quad Long Bed,Cummins,Rhino Liner
98 Lance Squire 4000
06 WW SLC 3505
48 Ford 8N was a rustbucket
52 Ford 8N w/ Sherman 54B HydroHoe
Friends of mine once hit a deer on a highway in Montana. It was at night and I guess the "deer blinking in headlights" cliche' is true. She just stuck her head in front of their van for a look, but that was enough to kill her and dent up a fender. They felt bad and stopped at the next ranger station to report it. The rangers said, "Oh, good! We needed bear meat." Whatever that meant.
campin4kids wrote: Is it true Mrs. Mik, that they don't have seat belts on school busses because they don't want kids hitting each other with the buckles?
GOOD QUESTION! I had actually heard that the reason they didn't want seat belts was because of the cost to retro-fit school buses.
The answer to both is NO. That is NOT the reason.
The reason school bus companies have fought seat belts for years is, believe it or not, the safety of the children.
Please remember that a 40 foot school bus can hold up to 83 kids. For this scenario, let's assume the bus is FULL, like the one my kids ride on every morning and afternoon. Let's also remember that in areas like mine, that are quite rural, you have kids from 4 years old all the way up to juniors and seniors in high school on one bus -- that's not generally the norm in metropolitan areas.
Let's say the bus got in an accident, and is flipped over. The kids are hanging upside down from their seats, locked into their seatbelts. The kids, especially the younger ones, are too scared and confused to be able to figure out how to unbuckle their seatbelt while upside down, and then suddenly, there's flames shooting out from the engine.
The fire department arrives as quickly as possible, and many kids are still locked into their seatbelts, upside down, because the older kids and passers-by couldn't get to them because they're upside down and the smoke is hampering their vision. There are still 60 or more kids trapped upside down in seatbelts while a fire has begun and is raging towards them. Which ones do you run to and save first? How many kids are burned to death because the firefighters weren't able to get to all of them to get them out of their belts before the fire became too intense, even for firefighters?
If there are NO seatbelts, the kids bounce on their heads when the bus flips over, but the older kids and bus driver (if conscious and able to help after the accident) are still able to open the emergency exits and help all the kids out before the bus erupts in flames. There may be bumps and bruises and broken bones (and possibly worse injuries), but the chances that 99% of the kids make it out alive are much greater if they are NOT belted in.
THAT is the reason the bus companies don't want seat belts on school buses. It has nothing to do with cost or injuries from kids beating each other up with the buckles. It has EVERYTHING to do with the REAL WORLD safety of the kids.
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