Yeah, it's time for Lisa's rant about people, aka drivers, and school buses. This is a rant that is near and dear to my heart, because my Dad was a school bus driver for about 30 years. My brother and sister-in-law carried on the tradition and still drive school buses now, well over an additional 10 yrs...so our family has easily a 40+ yr School Bus Driver history!
Ok, so here's what set me off today, and made me decide to write....We see bumper stickers, signs, FB posts, billboards, etc, reminding us drivers to "watch out for motorcycles", and I'm not knocking that AT ALL! Motorcycle riders have a spot on the road and we should give them the space and watch for them as much as we can. I have friends who are drive donorcycles, I mean motorcycles, and I want them to stay safe and be around for a long, long time! I also pray that my friends who drive motorcycles have more brains that some!
So yesterday, near where we live, a motorcyclist apparently hit a school bus and was killed. I followed the story, because as I said, School Buses are dear to my heart. This cyclist apparently was weaving in and out of traffic and rear-ended a school bus that was empty. Sorry, cyclist...I hate that you lost your life, but really? You failed to see a School Bus? The news reported that the school bus had stopped and was making a turn, and proper signals & lights were working. It's BIG, it's Yellow, and it's kinda hard to miss?! I would think!
Anyway, so that's kinda sad, the cyclist lost his life, a family lost a loved one, and I pray for them. The driver and witnesses have the memory and I am sorry for that as well. I'm personally glad there was no children on the bus to witness it.
So let's get on to the rest of my rant, because I have a BIG one regarding school buses and drivers. Let's go over some facts!
*** School buses carry children, ages 5 - 18 roughly, CHILDREN!!! Do I need to repeat it again, CHILDREN...aka possibly MY CHILDREN! That means Slow the heck down!!!! When you see a school bus, you should take your freaking foot off the gas, cover or apply the break, and slow your death machine vehicle down to a freaking crawl! I should be able to run faster than you are driving when you approach a school bus, especially if it's in a subdivision or along a residential street where there are children who are getting on or off that school bus!
*** School buses stop often. They can't really slow down and open the door and toss the kids out, they have to STOP in order for the children to get on and off the bus. You being impatient behind them, don't make them stop less. You being impatient behind them, don't make the kids walk any faster. So just roll down your window, put on some smoothing music and chill out! You will still get to where ever you are going, and if you're that late, maybe you should have left 10 minutes earlier next time...just a suggestion!
*** School buses have these things called a STOP ARM. It's a STOP sign that comes out from the side of the bus. Some buses even have 2 so you can see them better. They are also attached to lights that flicker when a bus is approaching a stop. Once the lights start to flicker and the arm BEGINS to come out, YOU CAN NOT PASS THAT BUS! I don't care if you are late for the most important meeting of your career. I don't care if you're late to your own wedding, divorce, court appearance, funeral. ONCE THAT ARM BEGINS TO COME OUT, you STOP! That doesn't mean slow down and go pass really slowly. That doesn't mean gun the car so you get pass the bus before the arm is fully extended. It means STOP the vehicle!
*** School bus drivers deserve respect, so treat them as such. I know parents who can't drive 15 minutes without putting a video in the car to entertain their children. A school bus driver drives a HUGE bus with 60-72 children, all making noise, talking, asking questions, singing, etc, while still watching the road and trying to keep the bus safe and watch out for drivers who can't always remember these simple facts. Now, I will make a disclaimer, I have heard stories of things bus drivers have done that would not deserve respect, so I know there are bad apples out there. There are always bad apples. But if you're a driver behind a school bus, try to at least give them the respect on the road and assume they are a Good one! :)
As the school year comes to an end, that means when the kids step off that bus, they are going to be ready to run and enjoy the sunshine, so PLEASE be careful! Nothing breaks my heart more than hearing a child got hit by a car, nothing sends me into a panic more than hearing a school bus was involved in an accident, and nothing would rock my world more than hearing that one of my children was hurt while on a bus or getting on/off at the bus stop. So please SLOW DOWN, PAY ATTENTION, and KEEP THE KIDS SAFE!!!
because it's BIG...Yellow...carries lots of people...You really can't see that?!?!
No comments:
Post a Comment