Ask Dr Safety: 4 or 5s following distance?

Question: We like your New Driver Training Course, but we’ve always taught a five second following distance and your course teaches four. I hate to go backward on this issue. Is there any research that you have that says four is enough?

Answer: No, to our knowledge there is no such data available. The idea of four seconds is to leave extra room for the unexpected. Five seconds would leave even more room but would also increase the frequency of cars cutting in. If you want to continue to teach five seconds do so, and explain your difference from the course as you perform the training. We believe that in most instance and fair weather that four seconds is adequate.

Ask Dr Safety: Crossing gates?

Question: Do you have an opinion on the crossing gates. I say they’re really good idea, but our maintenance manager says they’re unreliable and not worth the investment. Who’s right?

Answer: Hundreds of thousands of school buses have crossing gates so they are reliable and they do work. The crossing gates are inexpensive and do keep the children out of the front of the bus danger zones. We believe every school bus should have crossing gates.

Ask Dr Safety: Eliminate crossovers?

Question: Do know of any routing or scheduling programs that can eliminate, or at least minimize the need for crossovers? There was a fatality just last week in a local district (not ours, thank God), but it made me wonder because we have way too many crossovers on our current routes.

Answer: There are a number of computerized routing programs that can help with minimizing crossovers. Edulog, Versa Trans, Fortran and Trapeze are examples of companies who have such programs.

Edulog - http://www.edulog.com/
Versa Trans - http://www.versatrans.com/
Trapeze - http://www.trapezegroup.com/

Ask Dr Safety: New vs old bus?

Question: Our fleet has 35 conventional and 15 flat nose pushers. We plan to replace our 10 oldest buses, which are conventional Blue Birds, next year and would like your opinion as to which style is safer. I’ve heard the designs on the new conventional are a lot safer than the old style.

Answer: In our experience, the safest most economical bus is the new conventional bus, fitted with a crossing gate. The new conventional bus has a sloping hood that improves visibility in the front of the bus and with a crossing gate allows the driver to see any children in front of the gate.

Ask Dr Safety: Next Module?

Question: I’d just like to compliment you on doing such a fantastic job with the Driver Training Course. We’ve been looking for something like this for years. It teaches so many important things we never even talked about, especially the parts of what safety means and why people have accidents. We look forward to your next module.

Answer: The next module will be Special needs and be available before year end.

Ask Dr Safety: OSHA compliance?

Question: We have a pretty big shop with 15 technicians and apparently one of them isn’t very happy. I guess there’s always one in every crowd. He reported us to OSHA and we just had our first- ever inspection. Now, we have to do all sorts of things, including employee training. Do you have anything on OSHA compliance for a school bus operation?

Answer: Not yet. We will be creating an OSHA compliance program in the future, in partnership with NAPT and we will let you know when this is available.

Ask Dr Safety: Reflective Vests?

Question: One of the big contractors makes all their drivers wear reflective vests like you see on city workers and garbage truck drivers. I’m guessing since they’re so big, there must be some research behind this, but I can’t see the point. How do they help make the kids safer? Should we be using these? If so, are you going to be adding them to your products page?

Answer: We understand that the vests are intended to improve the safety of the drivers themselves when in the bus yards. The vests are not aimed at making the kids safer. However, they do make it far easier for the kids to identify quickly who the driver is, when they are wearing the vests.

Ask Dr Safety: Return on Investment?

Question: We have a pretty good training program that meets all of the state requirements and we haven’t had a major accident in two years. Of course, we have lots of little fender benders and banged up mirrors all the time, but no big deal. I like the looks of the Driver Training Course, but I’m having a tough time convincing my boss that we should invest the money. He wants to know if we can prove the return on investment. Can you help?

Answer: The average cost of one property damage only accident is $4,000 – more than the cost of the entire course. This course should reduce accidents by over 50% and claiming 25% is very conservative. Accidents are caused by unsafe behaviors – the course focuses on changing behaviors and can be used for many years – you cannot fail to get a great financial return as well as making the kids safer.

Ask Dr Safety: Safety fresh in everyone's mind?

Question: What’s the best way to keep safety fresh in everyone’s minds? We spend a lot of time in the summer getting everybody ready, but then that’s it for the year. Is there a cost-effective way to keep everybody thinking about safety throughout the year?

Answer: The goal is to create operations where safe behaviors are the norm and drivers do not slip back into any patterns of unsafe behavior. Regular reminders and involvement by the drivers help maintain safe norms. Regular discussions of the main safety practices for each practice will help do this. If any accidents occur, have everyone involved in identifying the route cause.

Ask Dr Safety: Special Needs?

Question: We really like the Driver Training Course, but it’s totally missing anything on special needs children. We have a huge need for specialized training in the area. More and more kids are being mainstreamed and my drivers don’t have a clue how to deal with them. Are you planning anything soon? Please help

Answer: Yes, we have already started to create a special needs program in partnership with NAPT. Linda Bluth, a renowned expert in special needs will be very involved in the creation of this. We hope to have available before year end.