The drivers were also encouraged to get to know the students who ride the bus.
Advertisement
One by one, mechanic Wes Brumley checks each bus that comes into the Durham School Services garage in Mt. Vernon.
“Around the beginning on the school year we do get a lot of complaints from bus drivers who have stop arms disregarded”, Sullivan Co.
“You got your exterior lighting, our bumper conditions, your stop arms and your stop arm lights”, said Brumley.
“That’s extremely risky on a school bus and that’s what we are trying to ensure our drivers are focused on preventing”.
“They’ll stop sometimes along the bus at a railroad crossing and they don’t need to do that, so that can cause issues sometimes, I’m always afraid they’re going to get hit because they’re stopping along with us”, Bonnie Green said.
“We cover Salem, Mt. Vernon, Herrin, Centralia, Benton, Shawnee and Carbondale”, said Brown.
Now she wants to make sure no other parent goes through the same tragedy.
Numerous drivers say it’s good to go back through the refresher course on things they might have forgotten during the summer. “If our 8-ways aren’t working, they can’t go out on the route”.
The training session not only focused on how the drivers could handle their buses in tight situations, but also their mental state while out on the road with the students.
The goal of the safety fair is to teach bus riders and the motoring public the various hand and vehicle signs and signals that accompany school bus travel now.
“People that have been here 22, 23 years will learn stuff from people that’s been here 30 days”, bus driver Robert Campbell said.
Advertisement
Brumley just hopes he’s done enough to keep everyone safe.
