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singlemomof3
New Member
5 Posts |
 Posted - 01/11/2001 : 3:30:56 PM
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Someone help me. There was a horrible tragedy in Augusta Ga 1-9-01. A five year old angel little girl was killed by her own school bus. Apparently she either bent down or slipped in front of the right front part of the bus...and the driver not seeing her..pulled away the back tires killing her. I have GOT TO GET OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM to LISTEN to me...to make drastic changes in the manner in which the busses pick/drop off this children OR made modifications to the busses as to alert or prevent the driver of a child. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE HELP
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yellowbus
New Member
Canada
1 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2001 : 6:05:33 PM
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I am very sorry to here that kind of tragedy.
What can I say...
Here in Alberta Canada we have what we call the SAFE ZONE. After children have left the bus they must stand at least 5 feet away from the where the driver can see them. 5 children get off and yes I see 5 children. The children must wait until the bus drives away before crossing. And NEVER in the city are the children allowed to cross in front of the bus. Never! Yes children are children and things may happen but the driver should be held totaly responsible. It should be she or he who makes sure these children are accounted for before pulling away.
I hope you can use this information. Please repy if you need more help. And again my deepest condolences to you and your family.
A driver in Alberta, Canada.
yellowbus |
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singlemomof3
New Member
5 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2001 : 11:07:33 PM
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thank you for your kind words...i thank the LORD it was not my child..but a child of a friend of mine here in town...but i will not stop at saying goodbye to lil Aleana...i will take your advice whole heartedly..and i will bring it to the attention of our board of eductiona transporation dept...i have also been in touch with Washington DC...to see if they can advise me on how to make things HAPPEN....IF i can do anything about this it wil NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN...again..i thank you...and will favor your response
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 01/13/2001 : 7:55:28 PM
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quote:
Someone help me. There was a horrible tragedy in Augusta Ga 1-9-01. A five year old angel little girl was killed by her own school bus. ....
The terrible death of 5-year-old Aleana Johnson, Westmont Elementary School pupil, (Augusta-Richmond County, Ga) run over by her school bus, is becoming an event all too common these days. 2safeschools provides a safety report that can help eliminate these kinds of deaths. The press release is at:
http://www.geocities.com/2safeschools/notes/busstop1.htm
Feel free to give the report to your school district or send the report to your local paper. (jk)
"In Loving Memory" Memorial sites of school bus and bus stop accident victims.
http://www.geocities.com/2safeschools/ilmem1.htm
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drivetrain
Active Member
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2001 : 11:47:31 AM
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WE ALL NEED TO SLOW DOWN! I am no expert, BUT I HAVE learned many tricks in just over 1 year that I PRAY will help me avoid this tragedy. CONCENTRATION is #1! HERE AND NOW! Time to shift into "N" and take your time! If it's a big stop, apply the parking brake. COUNT AND ACCOUNT FOR ALL! When in dought, DON'T GO! If you are late, you are late. DO NOT HURRY! CONCENTRATE!
drivetrain :) |
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drivetrain
Active Member
USA
39 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2001 : 11:53:40 AM
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When are people going to realize that we are not delivery trucks? Garbage men make more. WHY?
drivetrain :) |
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susany1950
New Member
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2001 : 10:43:20 AM
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quote:
quote:
Someone help me. There was a horrible tragedy in Augusta Ga 1-9-01. A five year old angel little girl was killed by her own school bus. ....
The terrible death of 5-year-old Aleana Johnson, Westmont Elementary School pupil, (Augusta-Richmond County, Ga) run over by her school bus, is becoming an event all too common these days. 2safeschools provides a safety report that can help eliminate these kinds of deaths. The press release is at:
http://www.geocities.com/2safeschools/notes/busstop1.htm
Feel free to give the report to your school district or send the report to your local paper. (jk)
"In Loving Memory" Memorial sites of school bus and bus stop accident victims.
http://www.geocities.com/2safeschools/ilmem1.htm
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susany1950
New Member
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2001 : 10:44:30 AM
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quote:
quote:
Someone help me. There was a horrible tragedy in Augusta Ga 1-9-01. A five year old angel little girl was killed by her own school bus. ....
The terrible death of 5-year-old Aleana Johnson, Westmont Elementary School pupil, (Augusta-Richmond County, Ga) run over by her school bus, is becoming an event all too common these days. 2safeschools provides a safety report that can help eliminate these kinds of deaths. The press release is at:
http://www.geocities.com/2safeschools/notes/busstop1.htm
Feel free to give the report to your school district or send the report to your local paper. (jk)
"In Loving Memory" Memorial sites of school bus and bus stop accident victims.
http://www.geocities.com/2safeschools/ilmem1.htm
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susany1950
New Member
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 01/15/2001 : 10:46:59 AM
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In our district we have a rule..count em down
count them away. All our students are taught to wait for the driver to motion them across if they have to cross the road. Every driver shudders with news like this. |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2001 : 7:47:51 PM
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Aleana Johnson's Memory Website is now at:
http://www.aleanajohnson.org
jk
Edited by - JK on 01/23/2001 10:40:15 AM |
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2001 : 10:57:15 AM
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There can be no predicting what a child may do. We had a similar incident here a couple of years ago; a driver had let his students out, checked his mirrors looked up at the students, again, and proceeded to pull away from the stop. Unfortunately, a little girl lost a paper she wanted to show her mom. She ran back across street as the driver looked down to turn off the warning lights, and he failed to note her bent down in front of the r/f wheel picking up her paper. She was hit, but it was not a fatal injury, we were very lucky and so was the child. It can happen at any time, any place when you are least expecting it! We must all take our jobs very seriously in this industry, because you never know!
Joe |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 01/23/2001 : 11:32:57 AM
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A great deal of information is now coming available, concerning events surrounding Aleana Johnson's death.
Apparently this particular bus route had a problem with new drivers and their unfamiliarity of the route. The route was often handled by subs, route descriptions were lacking causing some confusion, and kids dropped sometimes 50 min. late to their bus stops.
A growing core group of parents continue to express concerns about the district's inability to keep drivers and to keep the routes timely, citing concerns about discipline, traffic congestion and lower salaries for bus drivers. They're vocal, organized and not backing away from allowing the school administration and school board to make excuses or otherwise bury the school bus safety issues now making headlines in the Augusta, Georgia area.
Killing a kid, in the long run, carries a price much higher than had the school district been caught doing what they said they were doing -- keeping the safety of children their top priority. Killing a kid with the bus is never doing what a school district is supposed to be doing.
Reading the stories and bulletin boards surrounding the death of Aleana can serve as a strong warning to school districts failing to pay close enough attention to the safety of kids, the needs of their bus drivers and the community's needs.
There's a price to pay for killing a child, a price well beyond whatever Nickel&Dime cost cutting efforts might bring. Save a nickel -- spend a dollar -- or in this and other cases, save a dollor and spend millions of dollars when caught doing something other than what a school district is supposed to be doing.
Visit these links for a hard lesson in what can happen when school districts choose to ignore their part to help the school bus drivers keep kids safe.
If your school district is experiencing some of the same problems, pray every time you get behind the wheel of your bus that circumstance spares your community. (jk)
White ribbon effort protests bus safety
http://augustachronicle.com/stories/012201/met_158-2973.000.shtml
Driver cleared in bus death
http://www.augustachronicle.com/stories/011201/met_158-2953.000.shtml
Augusta Forums -- School Bus Safety
http://www.augustachronicle.com/ubb/Forum11/HTML/000096.html
In Loving Memory Memorial sites of school bus and bus stop accident victims.
http://www.geocities.com/2safeschools/ilmem1.htm
Edited by - jk on 01/24/2001 11:21:16 AM |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 01/24/2001 : 11:29:20 AM
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When are people going to realize that we are not delivery trucks? Garbage men make more. WHY?
drivetrain :)
When bus drivers stop saying they are hauling "scum" and others stop saying they are transporting precious "cargo." What bus drivers transport on the school bus are precious children, living souls, not replaceable.
Pay is relevant to what other than bus drivers believe school bus drivers are worth. But the biggest deterrant to better working conditions, including pay, are the bus drivers themselves, (mostly local and regional), unwilling to work together to make change happen. (jk)
Edited by - jk on 01/27/2001 11:07:42 AM |
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pochi
Active Member
Canada
10 Posts |
Posted - 01/27/2001 : 4:26:26 PM
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we are not carrying garbage we are carrying precious human life.but i do agree with not enough pay that is why there is such a big turn over..although we are classified as part timers but alot of us are out all day, morning till nite sometimes.we have to go through alot of training that we get shop pay which is barely minimal pay.i think the parents dont realize how little.why do i still drive because i enjoy my job and meeting the children and grown ups. safety is first priority and will always be. again we are carrying human beings and we should get paid a lot more.
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madwoman
New Member
3 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2001 : 6:02:22 PM
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quote:
quote:
When are people going to realize that we are not delivery trucks? Garbage men make more. WHY?
drivetrain :)
When bus drivers stop saying they are hauling "scum" and others stop saying they are transporting precious "cargo." What bus drivers transport on the school bus are precious children, living souls, not replaceable.
Pay is relevant to what other than bus drivers believe school bus drivers are worth. But the biggest deterrant to better working conditions, including pay, are the bus drivers themselves, (mostly local and regional), unwilling to work together to make change happen. (jk)
Edited by - jk on 01/27/2001 11:07:42 AM
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madwoman
New Member
3 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2001 : 6:06:31 PM
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quote:
quote:
When are people going to realize that we are not delivery trucks? Garbage men make more. WHY?
drivetrain :)
When bus drivers stop saying they are hauling "scum" and others stop saying they are transporting precious "cargo." What bus drivers transport on the school bus are precious children, living souls, not replaceable.
Pay is relevant to what other than bus drivers believe school bus drivers are worth. But the biggest deterrant to better working conditions, including pay, are the bus drivers themselves, (mostly local and regional), unwilling to work together to make change happen. (jk)
Edited by - jk on 01/27/2001 11:07:42 AM
we do haul "scum" and "precious cargo" but none the less we should be paid at least what garbage men make. And from experience I can tell you that Drivers do not stick together when it comes time to negotiate a new contract. They fall prey to managements threats and intimidations!
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wrenchmen
Senior Member
USA
115 Posts |
Posted - 01/28/2001 : 6:29:52 PM
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singlemomof3, Are the buses equipped with front bumper mounted crossing gates?..In N.J. they are required by law...this is a simple device that is actuated when the passenger door is opened and the red warning lights come on...A yellow plastic or metal rod, approx. the length of the bumper swings out from the front of the passenger side of the bumper forcing children who have to cross in front of the bus to walk around this and therefore be in sight of the driver at all times, even if they were to bend or fall down!...I am surprised to learn that this device is apparantly not required in all states!...I am very sorry to hear of this tragedy, I hope this info can be of use.......
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tess
Senior Member
USA
85 Posts |
Posted - 01/29/2001 : 09:19:38 AM
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I am a bus driver/trainer, and mother of 3. If the driver had done what he had been taught, count your students, get them to their designated place of safety, count again, count mirrors, check students one more time and then leave, that girl would have been alive! This is no job for anyone to be in a hurrty
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 02/25/2001 : 02:27:31 AM
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I am a bus driver/trainer, and mother of 3. If the driver had done what he had been taught, count your students, get them to their designated place of safety, count again, count mirrors, check students one more time and then leave, that girl would have been alive! This is no job for anyone to be in a hurrty
Yes,with this qualifacation:
Parents and school bus drivers have a common flaw. They falsely assume that their decency, sense of fair play and ethics are the same as everyone else. It does not hurt to consider that some administrations, school boards, bureaucrats and politicians are much like collection agencies. They present the greatest danger when they are helping you decide what you should do next.
But it is not the bus drivers and parents decency or sense of fair play that harms them. It is when they allow themselves to become naive about the motives of some they must trust in order to feel their work has value, to feel safe about their workplace environment and the genuine effort most school bus drivers and parents shares: A true desire to help keep kids safe.
There is no greater resource than parents. Some administrations promote that idea during school bond elections: "Parents are our greatest resourse." But, here again, sweet slogans can have more than one meaning. The clever keep their wallet hidden during such times and until they have decided which term is the reality in their community.
Strong and decent ethics are hardly exclusive to great bus drivers and great parents. Much of what I learned about decency I learned from great leaders, including in the mix some administrators, a few bureaucrats and a few politicians as well. Decency can enter the moment from almost anywhere, especially when great responsibility is realized. Here's an example of such a moment:
On one thread or another I mentioned, in reference to Aleana Johnson's death, that the Columbia County Schools administration and school board hand-picked the safety team to investigate their transportation service. You may recall that when the Columbia Country Schools superintendent reported the results to the school board and to the press he said, "Quite frankly, when they left they were very complimentary," Mr. Price told the board. "We do have a good, solid transportation program."
In my ombudsman work I soon discovered that more information can become available by simply complimenting the staff throughout an investigation. Investigators can be very complimentary during an investigation. So, "very complimentary" can sometimes be a strategy to help obtain the greatest amount of information about a facility or service under investigation.
Decide for yourself what might be the case at Columbia County Schools. Here's a link to the draft proposal obtained by the Friends of Aleana. Apparently, there were seven subsections, not six as was reported by the superintendent. The last section left out by Mr. Price was Section 7 - State Agencies. Read this report before condemning the driver:
http://www.aleanajohnson.org/draftproposal.html
You may also find the friends of Aleana reaction to the draft every bit an interesting reading as well. The link is:
http://www.aleanajohnson.org/reaction.html
I think it is past the time for teachers and school bus drivers to stop blaming parents or each other for the troubles in our public education system. Eliminate these lies and perhaps some truth may shine through:
* Kids are the blame. (Rubbish!)
* Parents are the blame. (Rubbish!)
* Teachers (or bus drivers) are the blame. (More Rubbish!)
(jk)
Edited by - jk on 02/27/2001 10:13:42 PM |
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djohnson967
New Member
1 Posts |
Posted - 09/18/2012 : 09:55:11 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by singlemomof3
Someone help me. There was a horrible tragedy in Augusta Ga 1-9-01. A five year old angel little girl was killed by her own school bus. Apparently she either bent down or slipped in front of the right front part of the bus...and the driver not seeing her..pulled away the back tires killing her. I have GOT TO GET OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM to LISTEN to me...to make drastic changes in the manner in which the busses pick/drop off this children OR made modifications to the busses as to alert or prevent the driver of a child. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE HELP
Hi, my name is destiny johnson. I am her younger sister. I realize this is many years later but i wanted to look up my sister, i appreciate what you were doing. Thank you, truly. You probably wont believe this but if you do look it up she had 2 siblings, destiny and ashton. We are now multiplied. Now that i am the oldest, i have three wonderful siblings and we all thank you deeply.
Love, destiny. By the way, aleana means angel, so yes its true an angel was killed that day. And the heavens cried... |
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TRAGEDY IN AUGUSTA GEORGIA
