The clipping shown appeared in the Chicago Tribune on September 26, 1967 buried at the bottom of a column on the first page. The chances are that most readers just glanced at the news item.

What’s our gripe?

Simply this. North Carolina is still one of the states of our fifty that has no laws limiting the minimum age of school bus drivers. Thus, a 17-year old student was responsible for the safety of 33 pupils and herself.

Even though we are not aware of the road conditions at the time of the accident ... it still is quite a lot of responsibility for a teenager, isn’t it?

Granted that school bus driver recruitment is a difficult task for all school district transportation supervisors and the private school bus contract operator . . . the fact remains that a 17-year old girl cannot be handed the job of piloting a heavy school bus. In fact, in many states the teenage driver is finding it quite a chore to get a driver’s license for the family car.

Do the North Carolina state education department officials realize the enormity of this tragic accident which occurred at Pinnacle? Or do they just shrug their shoulders . . . say they’re “sorry” . . . and hope it doesn’t happen again.

But it is bound to happen again and again! The teenager, driving a school bus, cannot be expected to exercise the same care and caution as most adult school bus drivers. Nor can a teenage school bus driver get the respect of the youngsters he or she transports simply because discipline on a school bus is one of the toughest jobs the driver must contend with on every trip.

It is high time for North Carolina legislators to make a searching investigation into what it takes to make a school bus driver ... what this kind of driver education calls for ... and most important, to set a minimum age limit for school bus drivers in the state.

It is high time for North Carolina school, board officials to get on the ball and take positive steps ... immediately... to eliminate all such future accidents.

It is high time that, everyone concerned . . . particularly the parents of all pupils who ride North Carolina school buses . . . to insist vigorously and emphatically that from now on in only qualified adult men and women operate a school bus and that they are thoroughly familiar with school bus operation and safety . . . to the end that such accidents can never happen again.

The school bus industry, as a whole, has an envious record for safety. North Carolina, by permitting teenage drivers to operate school buses, stands out as a. huge “sore thumb” in doing about everything it can to reverse the trend of safety statistics.

Let’s smarten up, North Carolina!