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JK
Top Member

USA
7307 Posts

Posted - 06/27/2008 :  11:34:27 PM  Show Profile  Visit JK's Homepage  Reply with Quote
11-Year-Old Is Left Unattended on School Bus

By Sopan Joshi, Staff Writer
June 2 2008

Washington Post An 11-year-old boy stayed unattended on a bus operated by D.C. public schools for about two hours Wednesday after the driver and an attendant, who delivered other children to school, failed to notice him.

The boy, who apparently had fallen asleep, woke up in a bus parking lot on New York Avenue NE. He opened the bus door and was then driven to his school, the High Road School on Kansas Avenue NE, by another school bus driver.

Apparently, neither the first driver nor the attendant realized that he boy had not disembarked at the school, nor did they check the bus before parking it. The bus transported only four children, including the boy.

The driver apologized to the boy's mother.

David Gilmore, the school district's transportation administrator, said "appropriate disciplinary action" has been taken.

The boy's mother, Evelyn Sykes, was at the school for a meeting with teachers when her son was driven there a few minutes after 11 a.m. As she was driving the child home, Sykes said she heard him say he never wanted to go to school again because he was scared. She took him to Children's National Medical Center, where a physician told her that the child had a panic attack.

Gilmore said all drivers and attendants are required to walk to the back of the bus to check for children who have fallen asleep. "The driver and the attendant didn't do their walk in this instance," he said.

Three-fourths of the school bus fleet, he said, are newer models in which the driver has to walk to the back to press a button before leaving the vehicle.

"Unfortunately, this was one of the older buses," he said.

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Edited by - JK on 06/28/2008 08:04:24 AM

mr.dave
Advanced Member

USA
414 Posts

Posted - 06/28/2008 :  07:50:59 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
HEAT KILLS!!! It is important to check your bus before leaving it. It is more important in the summer. These guardians of our childrens safty should face criminal child endangerment charges. That they should be let go by the school if proved negligent is self evident.HEAT KILLS!!!HEAT KILLS!!!HEAT KILLS!!!

Shiny side up, greasy side down
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JK
Top Member

USA
7307 Posts

Posted - 06/28/2008 :  08:10:30 AM  Show Profile  Visit JK's Homepage  Reply with Quote
True of cars and vans. There have been no deaths these past few decades that could be found, including from heat, as a result of a child left on an actual school bus. (jk)

"The Pupil Transportation Safety Institute say 5 thousand kids a year are left on buses."

Click the link to receive a free customizable brochure (MS Word template) that can be reproduced and given to parents - "The seven highly effective steps to keeping your child safe" - Click Here for Link

FREE School Bus Safety Ads & Photo Library
Post Check, Hostage Takeover, Bus Fire, Danger Zones and special effects photos now available Free to use at websites, in newsletters, memos, the local press, letters to parents and more. This is a very popular Website. If you can't get in bookmark the page and try again later.



There is no school bus driver shortage!
Properly train, effective support and pay that retains.
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Thomasbus24
Administrator

USA
4544 Posts

Posted - 06/29/2008 :  05:49:38 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Yet.
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JK
Top Member

USA
7307 Posts

Posted - 06/29/2008 :  10:38:59 AM  Show Profile  Visit JK's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Yet, during the same time period over 400 children have been run over and killed by their own school bus at the bus stop. Where the bus driver secures the bus, stands, scans and escorts the students off the bus, including across the street when needed, might reduce the number of sleepers left on the bus and also save lives outside the bus. I can see much more when standing and facing the riders. All states implementing the California model might help save lives and also help discover sleepers while still at their bus stop. (jk)

FREE School Bus Safety Ads & Photo Library
Post Check, Hostage Takeover, Bus Fire, Danger Zones and special effects photos now available Free to use at websites, in newsletters, memos, the local press, letters to parents and more. This is a very popular Website. If you can't get in bookmark the page and try again later.



There is no school bus driver shortage!
Properly train, effective support and pay that retains.
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gkay
New Member

1 Posts

Posted - 02/26/2020 :  08:59:37 AM  Show Profile  Visit gkay's Homepage  Reply with Quote
Was "11-Year-Old Left Unattended on the School Bus" a crime or something else? A Negligence...What was the Bus Driver and his attendant punishment?
quote:
Originally posted by JK

11-Year-Old Is Left Unattended on School Bus

By Sopan Joshi, Staff Writer
June 2 2008

Washington Post An 11-year-old boy stayed unattended on a bus operated by D.C. public schools for about two hours Wednesday after the driver and an attendant, who delivered other children to school, failed to notice him.

The boy, who apparently had fallen asleep, woke up in a bus parking lot on New York Avenue NE. He opened the bus door and was then driven to his school, the High Road School on Kansas Avenue NE, by another school bus driver.

Apparently, neither the first driver nor the attendant realized that he boy had not disembarked at the school, nor did they check the bus before parking it. The bus transported only four children, including the boy.

The driver apologized to the boy's mother.

David Gilmore, the school district's transportation administrator, said "appropriate disciplinary action" has been taken.

The boy's mother, Evelyn Sykes, was at the school for a meeting with teachers when her son was driven there a few minutes after 11 a.m. As she was driving the child home, Sykes said she heard him say he never wanted to go to school again because he was scared. She took him to Children's National Medical Center, where a physician told her that the child had a panic attack.

Gilmore said all drivers and attendants are required to walk to the back of the bus to check for children who have fallen asleep. "The driver and the attendant didn't do their walk in this instance," he said.

Three-fourths of the school bus fleet, he said, are newer models in which the driver has to walk to the back to press a button before leaving the vehicle.

"Unfortunately, this was one of the older buses," he said.

Click Here for full story

Click the link to receive a free customizable brochure (MS Word template) that can be reproduced and given to parents - "The seven highly effective steps to keeping your child safe" - Click Here for Link

FREE School Bus Safety Ads & Photo Library
Post Check, Hostage Takeover, Bus Fire, Danger Zones and special effects photos now available Free to use at websites, in newsletters, memos, the local press, letters to parents and more. This is a very popular Website. If you can't get in bookmark the page and try again later.



There is no school bus driver shortage!
Properly train, effective support and pay that retains.


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Brook Peacock
Senior Member

116 Posts

Posted - 03/16/2020 :  07:18:11 AM  Show Profile  Visit Brook Peacock's Homepage  Reply with Quote
they should check the back of the bus always!
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ACL
Senior Member

USA
53 Posts

Posted - 03/16/2020 :  07:32:14 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
My normal bus (a C2) has a very sensitive child reminder. Any use of the door with the key on (unless you cancel the warning lights) will arm the reminder. You would really have to go out of your way to create a situation where a kid could get left on a bus when you turn the key off and leave. However, last week I used a spare which had a different system and it was definitely less sensitive. It always armed when it needed to under normal route driving but it seemed I could do a lot more basic stuff (like in and out the door during pre-trip) without arming it. I think it was because this other bus had sequential warning whereas my C2 is nonsequential.

Either system, though, would sound an alarm if I secured and left the bus after a normal run without walking the aisle. Every bus we drive has this.

Take note that the event described was nearly twelve years ago and child reminders were a lot less prevalent then.
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Brook Peacock
Senior Member

116 Posts

Posted - 11/09/2020 :  01:31:32 AM  Show Profile  Visit Brook Peacock's Homepage  Reply with Quote
That should be applied to all school busses...
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