The Virginian-Pilot
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VIRGINIA BEACH
Two school bus drivers have reported injuries while performing additional safety inspections that began on Monday.
Under pressure from the state, Virginia Beach school officials changed their morning bus inspections to include checks of belts and fluid levels under the hood.
To look into the engine bay, drivers have to pop two latches and pull the hood forward. One driver fell on her back after pulling on a hood that had jammed, said David Pace, director of transportation for Virginia Beach City Public Schools.
The other driver sprained an ankle after stepping off the side of the bus, Pace said. To check coolant levels, drivers must climb up the side of their bus, using a small metal step, and stand on a tire. Both filed workers’ compensation claims, he said.
According to Pace and other transportation officials, modern buses have sensors that make visual checks unnecessary. Virginia Beach hasn’t required drivers to open hoods on their buses for 15 years, he said.
“We have data that shows this hasn’t been a safety issue for children,” Pace said. “It has definitely been a safety issue for drivers.” The regulations are being redrawn this year. The state Department of Education plans to release a draft for review and public comment in the next few weeks.
Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com
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Just a thought....
Maybe a step ladder would be helpful, however.....in the article it stated. "To check coolant levels, drivers must climb up the side of their bus, using a small metal step, and stand on a tire.". Ok, so if you don't expect bus drivers to check coolant levels, ect.....then I would say the city should be ok not having the fire department personnel check fluids/levels, ladders and pumps because the gauges would tell them otherwise if there is a problem? Have you looked inside a rescue vehicle and seen the sticker placed by the city garage ...it specifically states in red letters...."Have you checked your oil today?" Geez people, these kids deserve are our diligence in assuring the safety of the bus they're on. Just as a citizen expects their public safety personnel to assure their equipment works....being lazy and whining because it makes you get off your duff, climb around, be in the cold or heat and spend a few extra minutes to do a complete check of your equipment before driving/use is inexcusable. To those asking, yes, this article is one of many reasons I DO NOT allow my child to ride the bus.
Huh!
Bus drivers are required to know what's under the hood but not how to check it??? mama, this ain't your SUV!
Wanna bet they don't know how to bleed their air brake reservoir? Good thing it doesn't get too cold there.
The following is included
The CDL skills tests include three areas:
Pre-trip inspection
Basic vehicle control
On-road driving
The test that school bus drivers have to pass is a PRE TRIP INSPECTION and that has not in the past nor should in the future include getting on the ground and lifting up the hood. A pre trip inspection for a bus driver should and does include making sure all lights work, bus moves into gear, air pressure is up, and things of that nature. I have recently spoke with someone from DMV and he also agrees that they do not have to do all of these under the hood inspections to get there CDL license. Inspections differ from department to department. Bottom line= No Bus Driver should be getting underneath a bus to check hoses or lifting up a hood, they should just have to do the normal inspections that they have had to do for the last century. I do not know why all of a sudden now it becomes a big deal, i mean HELLO there are 60 and 70 year old bus drivers out there and grant it, they can still drive the bus and deal with the kids but they are in no shape nor form to be crawling underneath a bus or lifting up some heavy hood.
My last post to getalife.....
I will not debate this with getalife any longer as you refuse to acknowledge the facts.....
Just read the link.....
The STATE mandates Commercial Driver LIcensing and they're all the same...... EVERY CDL applicant goes through the walk around.....
If you choose to think otherwise, I'll agree to disagree and we'll move on.
I do know
That they do have to take a test but they do not have to get on the ground and check under the hood and all of this nonsense that the state is talking about. They are required to know whats under the hood, not how to check it. The only knowledge they receive is general knowledge but either way it is beyond ridiculus and they should NOT have to do it.
Skills test required for CDL
Dear "getalife".....
You might want to "brush up" on your VA CDL knowledge a bit as EVERY Commercial Driver in the State of VA has to take the "knowledge" test AND the "skills" test in the vehicle they will be operating.
As the below link shows, a PRE TRIP inspection is a part of this test, so I don't buy your rationale that these folks never took the test.
Sorry...... but you're mistaken.
http://dmvnow.com/webdoc/citizen/drivers/cdl_roadtest.asp
The same
People up here talking about that these drivers need to be doing the inspections are the same parents who send there kids on to the buses and act like there children are perfect angels..... and there not. They constantly want to go on and on about how a bus driver should do this and this but what really should be going on is PARENTS taking responsibility for their own kids actions and giving them a little more home training. So the next time you go to yell at a bus driver or transportation then the person you should be yelling at sleeps in your house every night!The bus drivers pass CDL test but they aren't required to do inspections then and they shouldn't be expected to do them now because it is beyond ridiculus that before a bus driver can pick up my kid then they have to get on the ground and check under a bus and then open up a nasty hood.You have never heard of a bus breaking down that could have been prevented if a driver got under the hood and checked. If they break down then its probably something that couldn't have been prevented. HELLO thats what we have mechanics for...........DUH!I mean bus drivers get no respect and all these people up here talking about they NEED to
ALANE.....
You seem to be very bitter. You have bad things to say about the parents, about other drivers, about your job.... Why are you even driving a school bus? If you are so bitter and upset with the job. AND YES DEALING WITH OTHER DRIVERS AND PARENTS IS PART OF YOUR JOB! I don't know you, so i can't speak on your driving but there are bus drivers out there not only in Chesapeake as someone as already told us about but also in Va. beach who are running red lights (Let me spell that for you Alane... RED LIGHT, do you know what to do when you see a RED LIGHT!), failing to give the right of way, and only coming to slow stops at stop signs {I see you know how to spell that one, Alane). I have personally reported 5 different drivers this year alone in my neighborhood and on Va. Beach Blvd. doing these very things. So get off you high horse and by a flash light so you can see those belts in the morning darkness, or find a new job.
alane96102
You are exactly the kind of person that does not need to be driving a school bus. You are bitter and hateful. With the type of things happening in the Virginia Beach Transportation System lately, you just go further to prove there are real problems in that system.
Bottom line is you chose the job, you weren’t mandated to perform it. If you can't perform the federally mandated checks which are a part of your job; you should quit or be fired. Perhaps a job in the food service or housekeeping industries; but make sure you are kept from the "precious" customers.
alane......
First of all alane..... I hold a current CDL from my years of public safety service in a neighboring city and as such I TOOK the test as well.
I have the right to my opinion just as you and I checked my vehicle EVERY DAY I drove it.
It is MY OPINION that bus drivers as COMMERCIAL drivers, should be held to the same standard.
Now about those kids...... if you're "tired" of dealing with kids maybe it's YOU who should consider an alternative as after all it its KIDS you deal with every day.
Generically, as a commercial driver it is the VEHICLE you're tasked to operate so it should be YOU who is the most familiar with the vehicle.