Accident – JAK the App

Child Dies in Daycar Van

Heat stroke is a killer. People like to laugh and kid around about heatstroke being a “meh” sickness. It is not “meh,” it is deadly.

Although this is not strictly school bus related it does come in to partial play. Schools do not always use school buses to transport children to and from school. A good amount of districts will use vans in special education situations. They use them for a multitude of reasons but one being that the students are easier to control in a van. They can be buckled or harnessed in, there is a much smaller count, and they have less distractions that can be upsetting to certain special needs.

Van’s have many positives but can be just as deadly is not used properly. A school bus can have a “No child left behind system installed”. Most of the buses these days do. Vans have no such system as of yet. They have to be checked by reminder or habit and not out of warning or need. It is dangerous because humans are not perfect. We get distracted by what comes next and when your sure you dropped everyone off, why check to see if there is anyone on board.

Mistakes can be fatal and van in schools or used to transport public children should be required to have a safety check!

Wheel Chair Security

Last year I covered an incident where a handicapped girl in a wheel tipped over and smacked her head on the seat next to her. She then rode tipped over for three minutes until the driver reached her home. At which point the driver and aide righted her and helped her off.

Her mother is suing the school district for her daughters injuries and this has resulted in some serious wheel chair safety talks.

Obviously more then one thing is wrong with the above situation but Darren Reaume, national training manager for a wheelchair restraint system points out a big one, the proper training just isn’t there.

Wheel chairs come in many shapes and sizes. That means that knowing how to properly secure any chair is a very big deal. The news went on and noted that the chairs wheels weren’t locked, well when the chair is properly secured the wheels being unlocked does not matter. Shows what they know and where our training is lacking. School bus drivers need to secure the chair itself, not the wheels.

Proper training would have prevented such an incident and proper training is what we need going forward. The media should not be telling us how to do things, we should know and act before something like this occurs again.

Chattanooga: New Charges for Walker!

Update!!!

Walker, who drove and crashed a school bus in Chattanooga Tennessee last November is facing new charges in his trial.

Acording to reports Walker faces six counts of vehicular homicide, charges of reckless aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and using a portable electronic device as a bus driver.

He is a deplorable example of what a school bus driver should be like. We put all of our trust I the people who bring our children to school for us everyday and he leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

There is further talk that he may not face any jail if he receives alternative judgement such as probation with a community service time.

I hope for the charges to all stick and letting this man anywhere near a moving vehicle should never be allowed!

A Florida Man Steals a Bus

Holmes county sheriff department was led on a wildgoose chase a few days ago when a local mans crime spree took a violent turn!

The suspect (whose original reason for fleeing was not stated) first encountered and injured a man in his home with a hammer while trying to steal his car. Upon this initial failure he attempted to break into a second home, and steal a mail delivery vehicle before he entered a school.

While in bethlehem school he was held at gun point by an armed school worker. At this point he was also being chased by a passing cop who witnessed him while he was breaking into the second home. After a brief hold up he escaped onto a school bus and went on a terrifying ride down BOTH sides of the road.

Just out side of town the cops shot the tires of the stolen school bus and was able to apprehend the suspect soon after he crashed into the woods.

This is a crazy story full of misfortune. I can’t believe how unfortunate the school and all of this bad mans victims were. I hope no one is too hurt and the school is able to recover in time.

Haleigh

Fort Worth Collision

Quick and Dirty:

A 40 year old women was driving and turned down a street going the wrong way.

She immediatly collided head on with the school bus! She was brought to he hospital with severe injuries. Only one child on the bus was brought to the hospital with minor injuries while 11 other ps where. Heckled out at the accidents location.

Not much else has been reported and the ages of the children on board were not disclosed.

When a car and a bus collide the bus pretty much always comes out on top due to its raised carriage design and size. Lucky for all involved!

Pit would be nice to see the accident report and how the front end of the bus ended up. Maybe a future report will mention more details, until then here hoping everyone comes out alright!

Haleigh

School Transportation Technology and JAK the App

We have been sharing some information on the development of JAK the App. In her years in the school transportation industry, Kari identified 14 headaches for school transportation personnel. In the below audio clip of the interview with Tim Hennagir, Managing Editor of the Monticello Times, Kari discusses technology in school transportation, her development of JAK the App, and how JAK addresses 13 of the 14 headaches.

Aftermath of a Crash

When a school bus is involved in a crash there are about a thousand things that need to be addressed immediately. We need to know how bad the crash was, who was involved, why the bus crashed, and do children need to be sent to the hospital? These are just the beginning of what needs to be assessed.

Then, there is what the media wants to know: who was involved, why did the bus crash, do children need to be sent to the hospital, and why were they not required to wear seatbelts on the school bus? That last question concerns me. I have been raised in a school bus filled world and as part of a privately owned school bus company. I feel that this question has caused a lot of anger and confusion over the years. I have never understood why it was so hard to understand. Personally, when they tally the votes for putting seatbelts in school buses they can put my vote firmly on the NO side of the board.

No, I’m not against safety. No, I’m not against improving our school buses. However, I don’t believe that putting seatbelts in school buses is necessarily the right or best way to increase safety for children on board. What I do believe is that in the last 23 years of my life I have been surrounded by people and an industry who bleed yellow. These people strive and demand to make school buses the safest they can be and they agree that the research and the testing does not tell us that seatbelts will always save the lives lost in past crashes.

I bring this up because of the recent school bus accident in Chattanooga that killed 7 children. Unfortunately, that accident was the fault of the driver’s poor reasoning and lack of training. As far as accidents go, this one was completely avoidable. The media asked their same questions and the answer they were given is that a local government has passed the first stage of having seatbelts required on school buses as of 2019. I don’t agree but if this makes the community feel better about this accident then they will do what they need to do.

I would have preferred an overhaul on their training program, an overhaul on their discipline program, an overhaul on the staff. They are the ones who failed those children by not following up with the driver and they are the ones responsible for this loss of life. I think the change needs to start with people; in this case the school bus did nothing wrong.

School bus companies needs to invest in exceptional driver training and follow up. This will make a noticeable difference in student safety.

Chattanooga crash picture from www.abcnews.go.com

Kari’s Passion for the School Bus Industry

Kari conducted an interview in April with Tim Hennagir, Managing Editor of the Monticello Times, to discuss her book and school transportation technology. In this audio clip, Kari discusses her quest for knowledge in the school transportation industry and how that shaped her in her career.

Praise for Unspoken Sorrow – review on Amazon

5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth the read!
Bychaseron April 15, 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
Very interesting book and until reading it I didn’t really know much about this tragedy as we
were not members of the Monticello community yet. My heart goes out to all those affected
by this horrific event. And for all Kari has endured in her life. My own kids ride Hoglund
busses daily. My one request voiced to Kari in 2009 concerning a drop-off location was
granted very graciously and I have always remembered her comment and how nice she
was about it. Thank you for your passion in working to keep our kids safe and for all your
hard work throughout the years.
Good luck with your future plans!

This is from a community member who had not even lived in Monticello, MN during the
crash but had heard about it through the grapevine. I know this accident was big news. It left a lasting impression on the community and still affects them today. As someone who was raised in Monticello and worked for Hoglund transportation I know how greatly this affected me. I appreciate that this story is able to help others who only heard the absolute worst! No one will remember the day the same way but
here is a new side to the national story. Read it. — Haleigh

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MN DPS Leads the Way

The first talk about the book, Unspoken Sorrow: Whispers From a Broken Heart takes place this month!

Kari will be presenting book and crash topics to the Shareholders group on Wednesday, May 17, 2017. Minnesota State Director of Pupil Transportation, Lt. Brain Reu, extended the invitation for the 45-minute event.

She will be speaking to transportation operators, trainers, and other officials. Kari is looking forward to sharing the story and believes it will help increase student safety.

The talk will cover the events of April 10th, 1997, some commentary about the aftermath, and information about how those events led to the development of JAK the App. There will be ample time for attendee questions.