A panel of school bus safety experts will share their perspectives on school bus stop and student route safety to open the STN EXPO Indianapolis conference.
The general session, “Are Net Zero Fatalities at School Bus Stops Achievable?” is scheduled for the afternoon of June 2. Online registration for the STN EXPO Indianapolis closes this Friday.
School bus trainer and industry veteran Dick Fischer will join Katrina Falk, director of transportation of Shelby Eastern Schools in Indiana, and Nicholas Martini, coordinator of transportation of Osseo Area Schools in Minnesota.
A triple fatality in Rochester, Indiana made headlines in 2018 after a motorist hit and killed three children when she illegally passed a stopped school bus. Amid a renewed focus on catching illegal passers, the fatalities set in motion new legislation to improve the safety of students arriving at and leaving bus stops. However, there is always room for improvement, which will be the topic of discussion at the general session.
The panel will take an in-depth look at the evolution of safety practices and what methods have produced results. They will seek to answer questions around how to leverage the resources and input of the local community and parents to school bus stop selection and how to translate data into improvements, such as relocation of school bus stops and creation of more efficient and accessible routes.
The panelists will also discuss how to address areas of improvement within transportation departments, particularly training of bus drivers and students, how to evolve with changing roadways, growing cities and concerns from parents, and the role technology is playing.
Consistency in federal and state regulations will be another topic of discussion as Fischer will share his insight from his experience as a school bus driver dating back to 1952. He, Falk and Martini will examine current training requirements and discuss strategies to ensure transportation staff are all on the same page when it comes to procedures and regulations regarding school bus safety.
