The Importance of Including Closing Windows and Locking Doors When Securing School Buses Arizona Administrative Code R17-9-104(D)(30) requires school bus drivers to inspect the interior of their vehicle at the end of the day to determine if there are any passengers still in it and if any objects belonging to passengers have been left behind. The code does not specify whether the windows should be put up and/or the doors locked when the driver retires for the day. All school bus drivers will, after their last stop, perform a post-trip inspection, checking for sleeping children and items left on the vehicle. Some may also check for damages to the seats and to sweep up any trash left behind. Most school districts require that their property is closed and locked when the last employee leaves. This is especially true when it comes to school buses. Vandalism has been on the rise, not just graffiti on the seats and walls left by passengers, but also after hours “trashing” such as tire slashing, “keying” and window breaking. For this reason alone it is advisable that emergency exits and the service door be secured at the end of the day. Many busses have ignition lock-outs as part of the locking system, preventing vandals from starting the vehicle if they have been successful breaking in. Buses without locks and lock-outs can be retro-fitted with padlocks on the service doors and bolt/keyway locks for emergency doors/exits. Closing windows is another way to deter vandalism; but it is also a simple way to avoid deterioration of the interior of school buses. Seats in school buses are covered with tough plastic covers pretty much impervious to water, dust, vermin, extremes of temperatures and harmful rays from the sun. However, the foam in the seats and seat backs is not so tough. Further, supporting the floor covering is a layer of plywood sitting on sheet steel. The plywood helps dampen road noise and it holds the screws and bolts that secure flooring and trim pieces. When water is allowed to enter a school bus through the windows it seeps under the floor covering and causes the plywood to break down. School buses are designed to last up to forty years provided they are properly maintained and sheltered, but vehicles left untended and unsecured deteriorate quickly. For this simple reason, school bus windows should be put up at the end of the day or when wet weather is anticipated. School bus drivers should include window closing and lock-up in their day end routine check.

Thanks Ted, for the added tips on how to keep you vehicle in safe. Also remember, now more than ever, with terrorism on the rise and the recent warnings from the FBI, it is but another reason to keep your bus yards and buses locked and secure. -Glendon Baker, Arizona Department of Public Safety

I have had drivers ask me how they are to handle the light rail crossings. Now and when it is up and running. Thanks

March 13, 2008 ******New information was posted on our web site concerning the Light Rail please read the entry on the right had side of the page under News & Information dtd February 27, 2009.***** This is being looked at but, until a decision is made the light rail tracks and crossing should be treated like any other railroad track. Sometimes it is difficult to meet the 15-50 feet requirement due to the location, but do the best you can. If you have more specific questions call us at (602) 223 - 2646. If possible have your transportation directors/ supervisors change the routes to avoid the light rail whenever possible or at least minimize the number of times you cross it, etc. Thanks for the question Dave, hope this helps. -Glen D. Baker, AZ DPS Student Transportation

I have experienced a number of driver's forgetting to fill out a seating chart after an accident. If you should have an accident, no matter how minor, and you are unsure if it needs to be called in, call your dispatcher immediately and ask: 1.You are required by law to call it in immediately. 2.You MUST fill out a seating chart before releasing the students. The charts must be filled out showing exactly where each student was sitting at the time of the accident. 3. The police will want both the student’s names and addresses. The chart only asks for their names and ages. You can speed up the process by having the students put their names and addresses on another sheet of paper, or on the reverse side of the seating chart. Make sure they print legibly. On pre-trip make sure you have an up-to-date accident kit in your bus. It contains all you need to get the necessary info after an accident.

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As a trainer who rides with various drivers for 30 day and annual evaluations, I have encountered many drivers who fail to shift to neutral and set the parking brake when performing student stops. Drivers, this is a legal requirement at each and every student stop. If a driver experiences a sudden major health issue, or they get rear-ended by a larger vehicle or a speeding vehicle, this can jeopardize the safety of entering or exiting students. PLEASE, PLEASE don't fudge at stops, do them right! It just may save a student from being seriously injured or killed.

Good point John. Reference is in the Minimum Standards page 28, R17-9-104.B.2  -Glen Baker, AZ DPS Student Transportation

When driving down the road, try not to pull up along side another loaded bus when you have passengers on board. This is a time when you can lose control of the passengers because they tend to gravitate to the windows on that one side of the bus to yell out at passengers on the other bus, once in a while they reach out the windows. It puts the students in danger because: 1. They are not properly seated (which opens the driver to being cited for inproper loading). 2. Hand, arms or heads out the window can be lost when passing a close object such as a tree limb. Try to keep your bus behind or in front of the bus in the lane next to you.

Thanks John...:+)  -Glen Baker, DPS Student Transportation

It is extremely important that as a school bus driver you know your major and minor defects. What we have done here in Cave Creek is to copy the pages(70 thru 80 from the Minimum Standards for School Buses and School Bus Drivers) and put them in the driver's log book. That way each time a driver does a pre-trip and finds a defect it is quick and easy to check, and if need be, get a replacement bus faster to do their routes. It also helps them to look at these things more often than if they had to get there book out.

Thanks Sherry, for your input. -G.D. Baker, DPS Student Transportation

Drivers please open all the emergency exit windows on pre-trip inspections,to not only verify that the alarm is working, but to keep the seals from sticking. An emergency window that is not opened frequently tends to stick shut, making it all but impossible for young children to open it in an emergency.

Not only is this a good idea, but it is required by the Minimum Standards for School Bus Drivers to ensure that all emergency exits are operational and undamaged, page 81 paragraph R17-9-108.D.1.e. Thanks John -

Train students who are waiting for the school bus, to wait for the driver's signal before approaching and/or boarding the vehicle. Too often students end up stepping right up to the curb before the bus has completely stopped. Remember drivers, we must stop at least 10 feet from the nearest student, so if the student has already approached the curb, the bus must stop 10 feet before the closest student.

Another good safety point. Thanks John  -Glen Baker, Department of Public Safety, Student Transportation

I am looking for an AZ law, on unauthorized school bus entry?

The school bus driver is responsible for the safety of all persons on the bus. The Minimum Standards for School Buses and School Bus Drivers states on page 31, R 17-9-104 D4 "Passengers shall comply with all instructions given to them by a school bus driver. A passenger or non-passenger who boards a school bus and refuses to comply with the school bus driver's instructions may be surrendered into the custody of a person who is authorized by the school to assume responsibility for the passenger or non-passenger." School policy also applies. Glen, Arizona Department of Public Safety, Student Transportation -

Proper foot wear should be worn when operating a school bus. There are drivers that don,t wear proper foot wear when driving a buses. Is there a law against that?

On page 31 of the Minimum Standards for School Buses and School Bus Drivers it states "While operating a school bus, a school bus driver shall wear closed-toe, closed-heel shoes that will not interfere with driving the school bus safely or performing other duties of the school bus driver". The exact location is R 17-9-104 D.2. Glen, Arizona Department of Public Safety, Student Transportation -