Month: April 2017

10 Things you should Never Say to Your Child’s School Bus Drivers

Posted on by TSB Super Admin


Being a school bus driver is not easy. Not everyone understands and appreciates the massive responsibility of being a school bus driver.  It takes some serious skills for drivers to effectively manage a school bus full of students. At times, it can be an irritating and frustrating task. They are not only responsible for ensuring a safely driving the school bus, but also for maintaining proper school bus discipline.

School bus drivers are often at the receiving end of some harsh statements from parents, commuters, etc. If you are a parent, there are some statements you should probably avoid making to a school bus driver. Remember, they are ensuring the safety of  children on a regular basis. Lets take a look at them. 

1. “No, I'll never allow my child to travel in a school bus as it is too dangerous”

Certainly, this is a wrong thing to say to a school bus driver. School bus safety is given utmost importance by everyone from the school bus manufacturers and school authorities to transport managers, drivers and attendants for ensuring better safety. 

There are perpetual debates such as whether the presence or absence of a seat belt will reduce school bus accidents. While the debate might rage on for a long time, it is a fact that top padded seats protect students from crashes as they are seated high off the ground. And when you compare the number of car collisions with that of school bus collisions, you will find that a school bus is the safest transportation for your child.

2. “Haven't you noticed how my child got bullied on the school bus?”

It is yet another complaint you will say to a school bus driver. To be frank, it is a wrong accusation. You can imagine a large school bus full of students and hence it can be a difficult task for drivers to take care of each child. As a parent, you should tell your child to report about the bullying incident to drivers instantly. Only then, drivers will be able to know about it and take necessary action.

3.  “Are you confident that it was my child behind it?”

Obviously, this accusation can be a great insult for drivers. They are the ones who witness every incident that happens in a school bus. Do you think they are visually impaired? They have a clear idea on the behavior of each student and it can never be a fake one. Hence, it is your duty to advise your child to behave properly inside the school bus. 

4. “Actually, the other kid started the argument first”

Every parent try to protect their child but before protecting them, do ask driver about the incident. Before blaming another kid, ask your child about it. And anyway, if your child abused or attacked someone, it is not a right thing to do even though the other kid started it.

5. “Yeah, I know he/she is a troublemaker”

Literally, this means that, “I know my child is a nuisance but I'm not going to do anything about it”. As a parent, you are responsible for inculcating good behavior in your children. If your child misbehave to someone, do tell them that he or she is doing a wrong thing.

6. “Why can't the school bus come to my house?”

Before complaining something to the school bus driver, try to think about their role and responsibilities. School bus is not owned by a school bus driver, he is merely an employee appointed by school authorities. Like every employee, he is liable to follow the rules made by the school administrators. Hence, it is impossible to pick every child from their house as the authorities decide the most efficient route to reach the school quicker and driver have no permission to violate it.

7.  “Sorry for being late”

Indeed, this is a wrong thing to say to a school bus driver. You should remember the fact that if you are coming late with your kid at the bus stop, you are making other kids late too. Never tell any silly excuses to the school bus driver as they didn't care about it. And, what they care most is to pick and drop every child at the scheduled time. Hence, it will be better not to make their task complicated.

8.  “Sorry, I didn't see the bus”

This is one of the stupidest reasons you present before a school bus driver. Indeed, it is a huge lie as it is impossible for not noticing the big yellow school buses with flashing stop signs. Hence, it is better to be constant vigilant whenever you go near a school bus and above all, keep your big eyes open.

9.  “I haven't passed your bus”

No, you should never say such thing to a school bus drivers. They will notice the number plates of vehicles that pass the school bus and immediately notify it to relevant authorities. Today, even the school bus students are trained to notice the number plates that illegally pass the school bus and hence, you could not escape easily by giving false reasons as there are more witnesses than you ever imagine.

10. “Do you seriously love your job?”

Usually, a school bus driver's job is not a glamorous one at all. But don't try to make them regret the job completely. There are people who do this job with intense interest and hence, it is better to never spoil their fun. It is their job and they know how to do it properly. Leave them alone.

As a parent, you should understand the fact that your child reaches home safely due to the school bus driver. And hence, learn to respect them and avoid unnecessary questioning. 

“Being a school bus driver is not just a job… It's an adventure”

Road Safety Checklist for School Buses

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

 

Schools have always been implementing all essential measures to ensure the safety of the students. However, in a hurry to implement the measures, they happen to miss out something at the end, thus leading to fatalities. The best way to tackle this issue is by creating a road safety checklist for school buses.

Here is what you must include in your checklist:

    1. Braking Systems of School Bus

    Here are the steps to check the efficiency of braking systems:

    Step 1: Check whether the air pressure is at maximum while starting the school bus     and also make sure that air pressure remains constant when you switch off the     vehicle engine

    Step 2: Press and hold the brake pedal in such a way that it drops a little and then it     remains constant

    Step 3: If the pressure goes on decreasing, it indicates that the braking system is      having an air leak 

    Step 4: Start the school bus and pump the brake till the pressure becomes half of the     braking system. The low pressure indicator must produce a buzzing sound as well as     a flashing light

    Step 5: Make sure that air pressure adjusts and recharge to the maximum

    Step 6: Braking system should be checked on a weekly basis


    2.  Tyres of School Bus

  • Tyre pressure should be adjusted according to manufacturer's specification, that is, based on the load being carried by the vehicle
  • Tread pattern of tyre must be consistent and  tread depth must not be less than 1mm
  • Tyres must have same size and type on the same isle
  • Ensure that dual wheel tyres never make wall contact, never have same size, and its air pressure must be within specified limits
  • It is essential that tyres on a dual wheel makes ground contact on a flat surface especially, when the vehicle is unladen
  • Examine the lumps, cracks and bulges in the side walls of school bus tyres. Also, make sure that there is no hindrance between dual wheels

    3. Steering of Bus

  • Steering must function freely from lock to lock
  • Ensure that the power steering reservoir is full
  • Check for stone damage and leaks in pipes
  • School bus undercarriage should be checked routinely for any oil or fluid leakage  
  • Ensure that the steering wheel of the school bus does not have any crack in it

   4. Windscreen, Windows and Wiper blades of School Bus

  • Check whether the windscreen, wiper blades and windows are in proper condition. Immediately repair if it is clouded or cracked anywhere as it hinders the driver's view of the road
  • Windscreen and windows must be clearly recognised as safety glass
  • Make sure that side glass of the school bus is not cracked, which may obstruct the driver's view
  • Ensure that at least one wiper in front of the bus works properly

 5. Lights

  • Check whether the headlights, front and rear park lamps, tail lamp, stop lamp, hazard lamp and reverse lamps of the school bus work 
  • Ensure that all peripheral devices like reflectors are in working condition 

6. Bodywork

  • Make sure that bolt-on accessories like bumpers, mirrors, etc. are not damaged 
  • Ensure that the overhead storage racks are not overloaded
  • Emergency exits must be made visible

If school bus safety is your priority, ensure that all the above mentioned things are checked before the school bus starts its journey. 

    “Safety is more important than convenience”

School Bus Seat Belts: Can They Truly Improve Safety?

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

 

School bus seat belt is a much discussed issue for more than a decade. Still, people are not clear about the benefits of seat belts. It is indeed a hot topic for school bus drivers, administrators, and bus manufacturers. Some reputed schools have already installed seat belts, as they think of it as a part of ensuring school bus safety.

Even though there are modern technologies such as school bus GPS to ensure student safety, additional protection in the form of a seat belt might make a lot of difference. Or, do they? Let us first analyse the benefits of using seat belts in school buses.

The following are some benefits associated with seat belt installation:

Attributes Protection in Times of Crash

Usually, school bus manufacturers demonstrate how seat belts become useful in crash situations, especially for the one that cause side impacts and roll over. Wondering how it becomes useful in crash situations? It helps you to reduce the accident injuries by keeping them on the seats itself. Without seat belts, your child will be thrown out during crashes.

Reduces the Driver Distraction

It was noticed that seat belts help to improve the student behavior in school buses. This is because seat belts will reduce the bullying situations as students hold on to their seats with seat belts. And it makes your child safer.

Inculcates a Good Safety Habit

When you install seat belts on the school buses, it becomes a habit. And this can be beneficial as your child puts seat belts automatically whenever they enter into a vehicle for transportation. So, implementation of seat belts helps to build a critical habit in children as it enhances transportation safety.

Is it Really Good for your Child?

Over the years, school bus seat belts are an issue for school authorities as well as parents. And in research and crash tests, it was found that in some cases, seat belts can cause danger to your children. The lap belt can cause injuries to neck as well as face at the crash situations. Sometimes, seat belts cause serious damage to the internal organs of your child. Due to these reasons, authorities still hesitate to take the risk of installing seat belt on school buses. As it involves student road safety, researches and crash tests are still going on about whether seat belts for school buses are good or not.

Here are the reasons why seat belts are not desirable for school buses:

  • When seat belts are not worn properly, it may cause serious back injuries as well as neck injuries
  • As seat belts are worn by children, you can not trust them fully as children are usually naughty
  • School bus seats are designed to be just like eggs in a carton (seats are closely arranged) that makes children safer

Is the Present School Bus Design Safer?

At present, school bus design is based on the compartmentalization concept. That is, seats are arranged higher, closer, and well padded, which indeed reduces the impact caused by accidents. And windows are made small so that your child never gets thrown out of it. Hence, it was proved that this passive crash protection system is safer than any other restraint systems available today.

Installation of seat belt is still a concern. Many argue that seat belt is necessary for school buses. While others think that it causes injuries to back and neck. Also, it may become a hindrance at the time of emergencies. It slows down your child's evacuation process, thereby increasing casualties. A clear answer is elusive. What do you think? Should seat belts be employed in school buses? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section. 

Driver Behaviours that Cause School Bus Road Accidents

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

 

Everyone claims that school bus transportation is one of the safest means of transportation for students. Hence, school bus accidents are the last thing to happen on roads. Sometimes, improper driver behavior may be the root cause of road related accidents. It is an offence to ignore essential traffic rules and regulations, especially while driving a vehicle like school bus.

Some common driver behaviours that may cause school bus road accidents are as follows:

Over Speeding

The major reason for most of the road related accidents is over speeding. It is human psychology to excel in everything; hence, there are certain drivers who never want any other vehicle to overtake them. But, they never think that student road safety is in their hands.

When the vehicle speed increases, naturally, the risk for accidents also increases. As a school bus driver, it is your responsibility to take care of students in the school bus and move in the permitted speed. When you increase speed, your judgement power decreases, thereby, causing accidents or crashes.

Drunken Driving

Even though drunken driving is prohibited, you will be able to witness several school bus drivers consuming alcohol while on duty. It is a big mistake to mix alcohol with driving. This is because alcohol reduces your concentration and thereby, decreases reaction time of a normal human body. Sometimes, your vision becomes blurred, which ultimately leads to crashes. 

As per the reports, for every increase of 0.05% blood alcohol concentration, the risk of accident increases. Hence, when a situation arises where you get boozed up, it is wise to approach someone else to drive your vehicle. 

Distraction to driver

 While driving a vehicle, distraction can be a dreadful enemy for you. Distractions can be from inside or outside the school bus. Students are normally noisy and this will be a great distraction for you. Similarly, the usage of mobile phones can also create a fair lot of distraction. 

When you attend a phone call, a major portion of your brain's concentration level focuses on that call and only the remaining portion focuses on driving the vehicle. This is a dangerous situation as it not only averts the reaction time, but it also reduces the ability to judge the hazard. All you can do if you need to attend the call is to park the vehicle on the side of the road and then, attend the call. This can ensure your safety as well as student safety.

Other distractions on the road include :

  • Adjusting mirrors at the time of driving the school bus
  • Playing stereo or radio loudly on the school bus
  • Animals crossing the road
  • Banner ads and bill boards

You will stay safe, if you move your vehicle slowly and avoid the distraction listed above.

Red Light Jumping

It is a common sight that vehicles cross at the intersection without caring the traffic lights. As a school bus driver, you have to save time; but, it doesn't mean that you should ignore the traffic rules unnecessarily. There is a wrong prejudice that stopping for red signal is wastage of money, time, and fuel. But, the truth is that, when you follow traffic signals properly, you will reach the destination safely and on time. 

When you ever try to jump on red lights, you are not only risking your own safety but also the safety of fellow beings on the road. It is found that whenever you attempt red light jumping, you may lose the ability to see the ongoing traffic,thereby, leading to serious accidents.

Avoiding Safety Gears

Use of safety gears is a must for ensuring school bus safety. You may avoid it as you think it as irritating. It is found that usage of safety gears can help you to survive accidents. Hence, it is better to take appropriate safety measures before starting school bus transportation.

When the above behaviors are carefully handled, rate of school bus related accidents can be reduced to a greater extend. As a responsible school bus driver, it is your prime duty to save the students, who are the future of the country.

8 Reasons to Choose School Bus Tracking System

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

 

School bus tracking systems using a GPS device has become one of the most sought after technologies by present day schools. The improvement in safety and security, which has been the highlight of such systems, is what led to its global acceptance.

A school bus tracking system from TrackSchoolBus gives you an upper hand when it comes to keeping your children safe. It even makes the documentation process easy and transparent. But the reasons to choose a GPS school bus tracking system from TrackSchoolBus are far more than simple documentation. Let’s take a look at them.

Must Read:

 What do school Bus Tracking Systems Track?

1. Web Accessible Student Details   

With TrackSchoolBus, you get a web portal were you could access the details of the students, relating to his/her academics and school behaviour. This brings together teachers and parents. Teachers can share various aspects of students’ performance at school. Parents can log into these portals using unique ID and avail information regarding their children, that too in an instant.

Advantages to parents

  • It helps parents to get the travel history of their kids
  • It informs parents if their kids have reached their school
  • Also, it gives parents the capability to monitor speed
  • Parents can monitor the time taken by buses at each stops

Advantages to schools

  • Helps to manage the school bus fleet with better efficiency.
  • Helps to reduce fuel wastage by avoiding excessive idling and inefficient route.
  • Helps to plan routes early. This can be done in real-time which makes management of emergency situations easy.

2. Know About Kids, on the Go

The ParentApp is similar to the parent portal in a lot of respects, but without the need of a desktop or a laptop. It can be used to monitor children from remote locations. Parents can check out the performance of their wards just with the help of a hand held mobile device. Be it on a bus or a train, access student information anywhere anytime with GPS tracking system from TrackSchoolBus. The tracking is done in real-time and hence parents get notifications regularly. It also gives provision to track bus on a map using a hand held device.

3. Real-time Tracking

As said before, GPS tracking systems from TrackSchoolBus employs asset tracking in real-time. It makes use of RFID and GPS for this purpose. Even the otherwise tedious tasks such as re-routing and re-scheduling are made easy, thereby helping to make quick changes in real-time. Some situations may require the use of real-time tracking, especially when it comes to monitoring the speed of the bus.

4. Communication Centre

Teachers and parents play vital roles for the proper growth of a child as a student. Hence it is necessary that a proper mode of communication exists between parents and teachers. Parent-teacher meetings offer an ideal platform for such interactions. But the disadvantage of such meetings is that they are less frequent. The TrackSchoolBus communication centre helps us with this.

Parents can have a regular peek into children’s academics, thereby enhancing their academic performance while also resulting in better classroom behaviour.

Communication centre is available in both mobile phones and web, with easy access to your child’s day to day activities. Teachers can also make suggestions and give feedbacks about the student’s performance. Previous feedbacks are recorded in the communication history and latest updates are shown as notifications in the communication centre. It also gives provision to send mails of communication between teachers and parents. It also has a live chat facility for direct communication between teachers and parents.

5. Notification Centre

One of the best parts of this school bus tracking software is the real-time or active notification facility. It might not be possible for parents to always be with their wards, due to work related or some other emergencies. The active notification facility checks up on the students and reports the events of his/her day to day routine to parents, with minimum delay.

Active notifications are sent on both the mobile application as well as a web interface. If parents lack access to a mobile device, he or she can check for notifications on parent portal.

Parents can get notification

  • 10 minutes before the bus arrives at the predefined stop.
  • Once the student boards the school bus or if the he doesn’t.
  • In case a bus stops for an unusually long time at any point.
  • If the bus stops at a unchartered bus-stop.
  • When the bus crosses a speed limit.

You May Also Like: 

How School Bus Tracking Apps Can Help Parents

6. Industry Leading Hardware

Normally a GPS tracking device comprises of two different components. One of them includes the tracking device which sends out the location signals to the satellite and another one for reading RFID tags. Whereas we use a sleeker design which includes both these components together. This makes it a more portable and takes up lesser space. The device is physically strong and durable due because of the use of industry grade materials which is used in the casings, PCB’s and the components. This makes it easy to transport the equipment when compared to the GPS trackers of the past

7. Easy Installation and Maintenance

Our tracking device is unique where both RFID reader and GPS technologies are merged into one device. Being a single piece of hardware, installation and maintenance are relatively easy. A minimum maintenance is ensured because of the high quality of hardware used. Once an issue is reported we will provide quick repairs and you would be able to know the status of repair once you login to the web portal.

8. Environment friendly

The GPS device from track school bus makes your fleet, environment friendly. Through optimization of routes and monitoring hard breaking and acceleration, the menace of pollution can be kept under control.

Can Social Media Promote Road Safety Education?

Posted on by TSB Super Admin

 

Today, road safety education is one of the key challenges in human and fiscal developments. Most of the youngsters ageing from 15 to 29 die due to road related accidents. And it is expected that road crashes will soon become the world's seventh leading cause of death.

In the past, there were no sufficient resources for the government to make people understand about the importance of road safety education. The non availability of resources has been a major problem for both low income and middle income countries. It is not the government alone getting the benefit from decreasing road related accidents. 

Must Read: 

Importance of Student Road Safety Education

Two key benefits enjoyed by businesses through safer roads are an improved global supply chain performance and enhanced employee health and safety. Road safety education will be far more effective when you give it via online as you can reach a wide range of audience. Hence, social media is an excellent platform for promoting road safety education.

Role of social media in promoting road safety education

Social networks are the best platform for increasing public engagement and promoting positive behaviour on the roads. It is predicted that almost all countries around the world will use social networks for promotion within the year 2018.

With the help of social media, you will be able to interact with consumers frequently. Mainly through mobile phones in your pocket and also other internet connected devices. This is far more effective than promoting government campaigns in a traditional manner. A wide range of audience from different communities, language, culture, etc. can actively participate in open discussions via social media. This will highlight the significance of the road safety issue.

According to psychologists, if a person finds out that another person of a distinct behaviour shares the same opinion as his, then that personal beliefs are said to be strengthened. Hence, when you share a post against dangerous driving, your colleagues as well as friends will obviously adopt these values and beliefs.

An effective social media post will persuade a consumer in such a way that mere listening of a message will be later turned into a desired behaviour or habit. Social media is a powerful tool to instigate publicity which creates awareness as well changes individual opinions.

Effect of social media on road safety

Using social media you will be able to work together with government on road safety and identify the best solutions for issues that thwart road safety. In this fast-paced life, even a hashtag or a shared post can influence millions of lives. The implication of road safety campaigns is better realised, via social media platforms. 

Recommended Read:

 Is Road Safety Education Necessary for Children

Today there are so many opportunities in Facebook, Linkedin, and other social media to share your opinions. The target audience varies based on the type of social media. In the case of Linkedin, the target audience are professionals. But this is not the case of Facebook, there will be professionals, students, and the general public. For a social media such as Instagram, you can share pics and videos related to road safety to a wide range of audience.

Road safety is a key issue for everyone, which needs to be solved almost immediately. Social media is one of the main media by which road safety is put into the limelight by experts. You can reach a larger audience and persuade them to follow safe behaviour. Things will be a lot easier if you possess an account in the leading social media platforms and have followers, which enable you to convey messages to more people. Publishing press releases via social media sites can have greater impact than you think rather than giving a boring lecture. Thus, social media plays a significant role in imparting road safety education.