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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
 Posted - 04/03/2010 : 07:59:04 AM
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Arkansas child falls out of school bus
Apr 03, 2010
KSLA/The Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, AK – Authorities say an eight year old boy opened the emergency door of a school bus and fell out.
Arkansas police say, Malik Lewis had just boarded the bus Thursday morning on April 1 when he yelled for his mother. He then dashed to the back of the bus, opened the rear emergency door, fell out and hit his head on the pavement.
Malik suffered a severe head injury and was taken to Arkansas Children's Hospital where he was pronounced deceased at approximately 3:15 Friday afternoon.
Click Here for source
2009 School Bus Related Deaths - A useful document when wanting a quick reference to deaths while discussing bus stop safety and when looking at updating school bus safety policies. Click Here for Link
(See Post #10) |
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coolbusdriver
Top Member
Canada
1509 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2010 : 12:08:57 PM
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| So sad, but sometimes when they open that door and the driver cannot react fast enough to prevent a tragedy. Even if you stopped quickly , that might be enough of a push to propel them out the door. |
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Mr. Dave
Senior Member
United States
120 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2010 : 3:00:09 PM
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| Reason #5 for seatbelts on school buses. Amen to you coolbusdriver, even the best of us have to take our eyes off the children and cheak the road sometimes. |
Shiny side up
Greasy side down |
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Former School Bus M8
Senior Member
143 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2010 : 10:52:36 PM
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| I always wondered why that handle had very little protection over it. I remember when i was in high school we had a problem with students pulling several false alarms in a short period of time. The school put these plastic covers over the pull stations which buzzed before you could pull the actual fire alarm. I always thought they should put some kind of similar protective cover over those back emergency door handles. |
School Bus M8 |
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NathanW
Advanced Member
United States
313 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2010 : 06:08:50 AM
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| Mr Dave, By the sound of the article the child never even sat down. A seatbelt wouldn't have been any use at this time. |
Nathan--Driver Extraordinaire |
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Thomas Ford 85-16
Top Member
USA
4177 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2010 : 3:09:03 PM
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As far as we can tell, this bus may not have even been moving. It doesn't take much for a head injury to kill. How sad.  |
Mike's Bus Yard - http://buses.zwebpages.com - Since 1999
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Mr. Dave
Senior Member
United States
120 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2010 : 6:08:18 PM
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You are absolutly correct Nathan, in this case it seems to have all happened at the bus stop. Seat belts would not have saved this child. An alert driver could not have run the aile and caught him. Education on not opening the rear door may have helped. A redesigned more child friendly rear exit may help or might cause other problems. A monitor sitting in the back of the bus would have the best chance of saving such a child, but that would cost money.
All said I would go with education, and firm inforsement of rules. |
Shiny side up
Greasy side down |
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NathanW
Advanced Member
United States
313 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2010 : 08:11:12 AM
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| No matter how this played out I feel sorry for everyone involved (driver, parent, siblings, students on the bus, rescuers, etc...) |
Nathan--Driver Extraordinaire |
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Mr. Dave
Senior Member
United States
120 Posts |
Posted - 04/07/2010 : 08:38:28 AM
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| Amen my brother |
Shiny side up
Greasy side down |
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twinkiebusdriver
Senior Member
USA
67 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2010 : 4:30:50 PM
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| The way some kids are I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often than it does. |
Formerly mlkdrives41 |
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mtok01
New Member
Canada
4 Posts |
Posted - 04/13/2010 : 8:06:38 PM
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It's a shame, but sometimes these things happen. Education may help to persuade some people that this can happen when you play with stuff you're not supposed to touch. Some students even find it funny to open the door and jump out, and some more education may help to correct this, too.
Maybe this'll be the accident everyone needs to correct the problem, because it seems like nothing ever happens till someone gets hurt. |
What d'you mean, it's not supposed to be making that noise? |
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coolbusdriver
Top Member
Canada
1509 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2010 : 04:16:17 AM
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I was doing a charter the other day, we were stopped at a traffic light when the buzzer went off indicating the rear door had been opened. I did not move the bus (put on the 4 way flashers and set the brake) while we tried to figure out what had been opened.
(alarm is same for emergency windows as rear door, so until you check you do not know which one set it off) Finally got it shut off, it was the rear door, and on our way again. The teacher (who never paid any attention to what the kids where doing) thought the bus was unable to move when the alarm was on. I explained that no, it was I who would not move until I knew everyone was safe.
This is to show that stuff happens without warning and as drivers we need to be very careful. |
Edited by - coolbusdriver on 04/14/2010 4:03:54 PM |
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Arkansas child falls out of school bus
