STN EXPO Reno kicks off with in-depth look at accident investigations

RENO, Nevada – Industry veterans Richard Fischer and Peter Baxter opened the STN EXPO by conducting a full-day interactive session on accident investigation.

During the eight-hour session, attendees learned the importance of training, negligence, liability and more. Fischer noted that it’s not a question of “if” but “when” an accident will occur in your operation. That statement stuck with Brittney Reasbeck, a driver’s instructor for the Elko County School District in Nevada.

she said News about school transport that there are not many accidents in her district, but she attended the meeting to understand what to do in the event of an accident, what happens during investigations, and how to prepare for them.

“Negligence can cost millions,” Reasbeck recalled her notes. “What can I do to protect myself, the children and the other drivers? I make sure our staff are properly trained so they don’t drop students off too early and are aware of what’s going on around them.”

Fischer added that the first fatal accident will never be forgotten, but explained that through accident investigations, the information and knowledge of what to do during that tragedy can be passed on to others. The speakers listed over 100 bullet points on various incidents that should be investigated, including driver fatigue, school bus fires, other drivers, safety rules and more.

“The average driver makes a driving error every quarter mile,” Fischer said.

Installation of lap/shoulder belts

An attendee at Friday’s school bus accident investigation seminar asked about Blue Bird’s recent announcement that it would equip school buses with lap/shoulder belts as standard and how those safety restraints might affect evacuations. Course instructor Richard Fischer said there should be no problems if bus drivers and students are properly trained to evacuate the bus using seat belts. He said Blue Bird most likely made the decision to disclaim liability. More and more children are being thrown around in the bus, he said, leading to the district and OEM being sued for failing to install three-point belts when they are available. “Protect your Adam’s apple,” Fischer said of the decision.

His colleague Peter Baxter added that he has been an advocate of lap/shoulder belts from the beginning, citing tremendous product development. He pointed out that lap/shoulder belts protect students from serious injury, keep them conscious in an accident and allow students to get off the bus themselves in an emergency. The three-point belts, he said, help maintain mobility, but the technology requires practice. Installing seat belts, Baxter said, is another training opportunity.

“For me it’s about reducing injuries,” he said.

Reasbeck added that she will share that statistic with drivers. She will also bring a training element, Fischer said, which involves blindfolding bus drivers inside the bus to see if they can open the roof hatch and get to the back door to evacuate in the event of a fire.

“Even if you are in a situation where you can’t see anything, you still have to be able to get off the bus,” she said, adding that his demonstrations were very interesting.

One of Fischer’s suggestions for safety meetings was to have the drivers lead them. He recommended dividing the drivers into 12 groups, assigning each group a month and giving them safety topics for each month. This, he said, would put the research and responsibility on the drivers. He then recommended testing everyone in the class to make sure they were paying attention.

Denny Coughlin, owner of School Bus Training Company, agreed. He noted that the best way to learn something is to teach it. He added that if school bus drivers don’t document it, there’s no way to prove they’ve completed the training.

Misty Horttor, the Elko County School District’s route coordinator, told STN that her district follows a protocol sheet that is reviewed every year, such as who to contact in case of an emergency. She noted that speakers also come and give drivers demonstrations of things like fire extinguishers.

“We offer numerous training opportunities throughout the year and during the summer as well,” she added, noting that by taking the class she wanted to ensure that Elko County is doing everything in its power to prevent deaths or accidents.

“If there was something we could do – train better or take the next step – then that was our goal (for participating),” she said.

Fischer gave an overview of what to do in the event of a school bus accident to be able to investigate and prevent the next one. This included collecting as much data as possible at the scene of the accident. He advised not to worry about the courtroom, but instead to focus on the task at hand.

Fischer also advised taking photographs and drawings of the accident scene showing where the vehicles collided and came to a stop, how wide the skid marks were, what type of roadway it was and how far they were from the marked poles at the side of the road, etc.

Regarding follow-up to the investigation, Fisher noted that it is important to interview the bus driver and examine his actions and behavior patterns leading up to the accident. He advised districts that have onboard video cameras to randomly review the video files and use the footage for driver training.

He also recommended having a workplace lawyer present when speaking to students and/or their parents about the incident and their injuries. Additionally, he said, the bus driver should be drug tested within 32 hours of an accident and alcohol tested within three hours.

Fischer added that it is important to have documentation on how drivers will be disciplined in the event of an incident. He added that it is important to provide training and documentation.

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Baxter concluded that investigations are about uncovering discrepancies between what you say you’re doing and what you’re actually doing. Keep the risk of liability as low as possible, he said. He noted that attendees should be familiar with some resources, such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has operational and procedural guidelines and Directive 17, Section 10 in the CDL handbook, the National Congress on School Transportation, which the industry uses for self-governance, and individual state laws.

Stanley Moya, safety coordinator at the Santa Fe Indian School in New Mexico, said his goal in attending the course was to gather as much information as possible, network with others and share information with the district. He noted that if he took away just one new piece of information from the conference, it was worth it.

And Moya already had a notebook full of information on the first day.

“The lecturers here do a very good job of capturing the attention (of the room),” he added, noting that he appreciated that speakers offered to send information to participants and provide pointers on where to find additional resources.