This instructor's manual was designed to help graduates of the California Bus Driver Instructor Course provide effective instruction to school bus driver trainees. It contains enough material for 20-30 hours of classroom training. The information is organized in 12 instructional units that cover the following topics: introduction to the course;…

An advisory committee, in response to a 1985 resolution by the Virginia General Assembly, presents this analysis and makes recommendations concerning state school bus safety. The report is divided into eight topics; six appendices comprise three-fourths of the study. "Origin of the Study" states requests to be investigated by the…

Guiding principles, state laws, and state board rules and regulations are covered, providing school administrators with a ready reference in the field of pupil transportation. Divided into three sections, the manual initially covers administrative procedures including--(1) the purchase of buses, (2) bus maintenance, (3) employment of drivers, (4)…

The National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) has supported the development of a training program for school bus drivers in the form of a curriculum package (instructor's, course, and trainee study guides). To assist the States in making the program operational, NHTSA in 1974 supported the conduct of five five-day institutes to explain…

This study has been undertaken to assess the magnitude of the school bus safety problem and to develop a plan to improve pupil transportation safety. The resulting report provides estimates of school bus population and daily usage, gives an account of injuries and fatalities that occur annually, and compares the safety records of school buses to…

To ensure worker safety, fleet safety managers need professional staffs, good access to top management, and sufficient authority to discharge their duties. Safety programs should include careful driver hiring; training, including orientation, testing, and practice; comprehensive accident reporting; and cooperative compliance programs with…

A March 1982 Jonesboro, Arkansas, school bus accident in which nine people were killed has rekindled the debate over school bus safety, says the author. The article discusses briefly the opposition historically between school bus manufacturers and safety advocates and presents cost-benefit arguments concerning mandatory seat-belt installation.…

Initially driven by school consolidation and later augmented by the mandate to desegregate, school busing systems have grown monumentally all over the United States. Busing policy choices have been made and expanded without regard to the impact on the central enterprise of schools, which is student learning. Anecdotes from Montana, the Navajo…

A special report on school transportation covers the following topics: (1) a school bus safety update; (2) equipping school buses with motion detectors; (3) state training requirements for school bus drivers; (4) recruiting and retaining drivers; (5) regulations covering underground fuel-storage tanks; and (6) a transportation directory. (MLF)

In Fox River Grove, Illinois, 7 teenagers were killed the morning of October 25, 1995, when a 620-ton commuter train crashed into the rear end of their school bus. School, transportation, and safety officials have focused on three areas: train crossings and signals, bus-driver training, and school-bus construction. Lists 10 vital lessons for…

Preventing accidents in the first place should be the goal of school transportation directors. To do this, and limit liability, a district must (1) have a strong driver-training program; (2) check drivers' records and references; (3) provide and record maintenance of the bus fleet; and (4) spell out operating and training opportunities in…

The potential usefulness of self-assessment of low-level aptitudes, such as basic or elementary reading, writing, and calculating, was explored in a test validation context, following the model of B. Davey (1980, 1990). Self-assessments were sought to provide criterion-related or construct validities that might otherwise be unobtainable for some…

Intended to help produce safe, competent California school bus drivers, this document contains instructor's materials for a bus driver education course with eight sequential skill levels, including a final appraisal. The first section contains the curriculum's purpose and objectives, the California standards for a state-certified bus driver…

In New York, as in many states, "rural" is not synonymous with "agricultural." The Commission on Rural Resources (CRR) supports preservation of agrarian New York State, but also seeks to assist rural citizens with many other challenges: in education, transportation, forestry development, housing, health care, viable business…

The legal aspects of pupil transportation are examined, including the liability of various factions for transportation decisions and the duty of school districts to provide adequate transportation. Discussed are court decisions dealing with such complex topics as transportation of special education students, transportation for purpose of…