School Bus Safety

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School Bus Danger Zone Casualties
How to Prevent School Bus Danger Zone Casualties?
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• Over the past 8 years, there have been 92 school
  bus danger zone fatalities reported an average
  of 12 casualties every year! While analyzing the
  causes of these casualties, many factors were
  identified.
• 37 casualties were caused due to accident by
  passing vehicle.
• 24 casualties happened while students were in
  front of the school bus.
• 12 casualties happened because the students were
  standing too close to the side of the bus and the
  rest 10 casualties happened when the students ran
  after the bus.
• The damages that happened due to these
  causalities may be irreparable but many measures
  can be taken from such incidents repeating. Some
  of them are listed.

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There had been numerous incidents where students
were found locked up in school vans or knocked
down by vehicles while waiting for school bus at
bus stops. Certain zones are prominent in causing
a lot of student fatalities. These has been
categorized as danger zones.
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• Accident by passing vehicle

• Straying on to school buses path or staying
  too close to the side of the school bus

• Running after the school bus

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Accident by passing vehicle

• Students trying to cross roads dangerously are a
  common sight in bus stops near schools.
• You cant say that the student should not cross
  the read since it may be a necessity but you can
  train the students to cross the road in a proper
  manner.
• Also, the school bus driver can gesture if it is
  safe to cross.
• But the students should check for themselves once
  again to avoid any accidents.
• The students should stay by the edge of the
  pavement and check left and right for vehicles
  coming and then, cross the road.

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Students crossing roads carelessly is not the
only reason. There can be other reasons such as-

• Ignorance by drivers, especially the ones who
  have been driving for years but are not up to
  date with the law.
• The driver being distracted
• Some drivers do it deliberately. They can see
  the stopped bus, are aware of the laws and know
  that kids may be around but dont bother to slow
  down but drive past the bus, instead

This can be solved by educating the people
occasionally about the laws and ask them to pay
attention when they see a school bus
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Straying on to school buses path or staying too
close to the side of the school bus
At times, carelessness can cause casualties
within the school vicinity itself. The front end
and the sides are in particular termed as danger
zones. Schools can help avoid such accidents by
employing some simple measures.

• Make crossing gates mandatory in schools to
  prevent students straying on to the path of
  school buses. In schools around the world, the
  number of such fatalities has been reduced when
  crossing gates were introduced.
• Ask students not to be near the side of the
  school bus and that they should be at least 6
  steps away from the bus.
• Make it mandatory for drivers to count the
  number of students and check the mirrors to
  ensure the safety of students

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Running after the school bus
This is a very dangerous practice and is often
seen at most bus stops. Usually it is the teenage
students who are bound to do this. It can be
prevented in two ways

• Asking the students not to run behind the
  school bus and educating them about the
  consequences.
• Instructing the drivers to stop the bus in case
  students run behind and bang on the bus. Drivers
  should take such students to the school principal
  as soon as they reach the school

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In short, there are five things that can be done
to cut down the number of school bus danger zone
casualties

• Train the drivers
• Educate the students about the school bus
  practices and the consequences if they are not
  followed
• Parents and school must communicate with each
  other about safe school bus practices
• Educate the public
• Make crossing gates mandatory in schools

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• Apart from all these, an extra step that can be
  taken using a school bus monitoring system to
  track students.
• The RFID school bus tracking system requires
  students to swipe their RFID tags in the school
  bus as soon as they enter.
• This can help you identify if a child has entered
  the bus or whether he/she is somewhere near the
  bus.

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Resources-
http//www.trackschoolbus.com/blog/prevent-school-
bus-danger-zone-casualties/
http//www.trackschoolbus.com/blog/scope-rfid-scho
ol-bus-tracking-systems-security-measures-schools/