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Who will watch students as bus drivers drive?

Re: Every school bus driver could use the help of a "bus monitor,' Jan. 30 letter to the editor:

Editor: Several people have written letters to the editor regarding the recent accident involving a school bus. The article about the accident stated that the driver veered off the road while he was looking in the mirror to check on the students.

I agree with letter writer Marianne Colburn that school bus drivers should be concentrating on driving and not having to watch the students. Seat belts for the students are fine, but who is going to see that students use them and keep them buckled?

Having bus monitors to watch children is excellent idea

Re: Every school bus driver could use the help of a "bus monitor,' Jan. 30 letter to the editor:

Editor: I agree with the great idea from Marianne G. Colburn of Brooksville regarding the bus driver who was distracted while driving his bus. I believe a "bus monitor" would take the burden of monitoring children off the bus driver while operating the bus.

The bus driver's job is a difficult one. How can we expect him or her to drive the bus safely and keep a close eye on the children's behavior? I believe it's impossible to do both simultaneously.

It's a simple solution to a major problem. Kudos to Ms. Colburn for coming up with the idea.

Seat belts fine, but cameras would help keep kids in line

Re: School bus accident:

Editor: I agree that seat belts should help keep the kids on their bottoms while riding the bus, but monitors are extremely important for all grades.

The drivers would never resort to using unsafe tactics. Put the cameras in all buses and make sure every morning all the cameras are in perfect working order before they leave the bus yards. Encourage the kids and drivers with simple praise and long-term reward (certificates made on computers?) are always good smile-makers and could work like a charm.

Families should instruct children in behavior on bus

Re: School bus accident:

Editor: Parents need to teach their children rules when riding in the family car, as well as the school bus, so they won't bother the driver.

Parents need to tell their children what can happen if the driver is distracted from the road.

Maybe unruly children are partly to blame in bus crash

Re: School bus accident:

Editor: I drove 20 school buses in northern New York, in snow and ice for 500,000 miles before I got a regular route. Never did I write a report on any child for bad behavior. That problem was solved long before me.

When I came to Florida with an A-plus driving rating, I was dismissed by the Powell Middle School principal because I wrote (in his mind) too many bad behavior reports. (The school office did not want to hear how they did it in New York.)

No mention has been made in regard to this recent accident about the unruly children, except to blame the driver.

Last, but not least, it is a good thing there were not 26 children hanged with a seat belt around their necks.

Relentless, countywide traffic enforcement needed for safety

Re: School bus accident:

Editor: We were lucky. Although the parents of the injured children wouldn't quite agree, it could have been a lot worse. We could have had a whole row of new crosses along Powell Road.

I will not join the pack in hammering bus driver Ronald Gagliano or the school system. I am sure there are others driving our school buses who have similar or worse records. It was just bad luck that he had the accident.

But such an outcome is an eventual sure thing for those who have the habit of driving in a "careless" (another word for this is "aggressive") manner. There is no difference whether our children are killed and injured by the carload or by the busload. The loss is just as painful.

And I am sure that many who would castigate Mr. Gagliano also have driving habits that imperil themselves and everyone else on the road. I was on Powell Road the very same day and observed a deputy sheriff, no less, tailgating another car. No other traffic visible except me in the opposite lane, yet this deputy was approximately 50 feet behind another vehicle and both were doing around 50 mph. At first I thought it was one car towing another.

There is no excuse for tailgating or "following too closely," even if the driver in front is doing less than the posted limit. You maintain a safe distance until you get an opportunity to pass, period. That is both the law and common sense. And my experiences with tailgaters is that when you speed up to get them off your bumper, they also speed up to stay there.

Farther west along Powell Road, after it becomes Elgin Boulevard and the posted speed limit drops to residential area, I observed the traffic units citing speeders. Those cited most likely will drive safely for a week or so, then go back to their old habits after they see many other drivers getting away with what they got caught doing.

Human nature is such that people will discipline themselves to do only what they have to do.

Therefore, I believe we can justifiably hold local law enforcement partially liable for every accident due to the simple fact that speeding, tailgating, speeding up for light changes and so on are tolerated and common on local highways. Random and sporadic speed traps are not an answer to the existing state of county traffic, but a period of relentless countywide enforcement is necessary to educate unsafe drivers on what is expected of them.

Traffic enforcement will be the only factor in whom I support, and encourage others to support, for the next county sheriff.

If it really takes a bigger budget for law enforcement to accomplish this, then we need to get it done.

Bus crash shows need to screen against careless drivers

Re: School bus accident:

Editor: This is in reference to the bus driver who rolled a bus in Hernando County. Why is it that motor vehicle checks are not done on a regular basis for people who drive school buses?

There should be some way of weeding out these careless bus drivers, as this person obviously had a history of poor driving.

I would suggest that the School Board take this as a warning and start looking at all bus drivers' past three years of driving records and have no leniency for careless driving.

How many children can one driver adequately supervise?

Re: School bus accident:

Editor: I noted that on the day that the accident happened, at least some of the local TV networks reported the accident, showing the bus upside down, followed by a quick report on the condition of all involved. Then viewers got a report of the bus driver's driving history, tickets, etc.

Granted, we should look at every aspect of the accident (including driving condition and records). But here's another point of view:

We have limited the size of the classroom (pupils per teacher). Shouldn't the next question be, "How many children can one person supervise and, at the same time, drive a school bus?"

Why continue to employ a driver with a bad driving record?

Re: School bus accident:

Editor: If ever we needed proof of the "protection racket" taking place with the state Department of Education and other government employees, we only need read about this driver's past record of disciplinary actions both on and off the job.

We would not dream of hiring a registered sex offender to work in any of our schools because he (she, nowadays, too) is a danger to children. So why is it that we keep someone who has a lousy driving record and numerous disciplinary actions? He is just as much a danger and should have been fired long ago.

Oh, I forgot; this is Hernando County government and its unions at work.

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[Last modified February 2, 2005, 00:32:17]