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School bus crashes on the rise across region

Bus mechanic John Marsh has been busier than usual preparing for new the school year because Dayton Public Schools is outfitting each school bus with GPS this year in an effort to track buses and check on bus speeds and timeliness.

Ty Greenlees Bus mechanic John Marsh has been busier than usual preparing for new the school year because Dayton Public Schools is outfitting each school bus with GPS this year in an effort to track buses and check on bus speeds and timeliness.

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School bus safety tips

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By Richard Wilson and Margo Rutledge Kissell
Staff Writer Updated 7:29 AM Tuesday, August 16, 2011

The number of school bus crashes decreased statewide last year but rose in Montgomery, Greene, Miami and Butler counties, according to Ohio public safety statistics.

The death of Lakota East High School sophomore Sodany April Phann, 15, last March while she was walking to her bus stop on Long Drive in Liberty Twp., stands out as the only bus fatality in the 10-county region handled by the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s district office in Wilmington.

“It’s rare to have a school bus fatality,” Sgt. Aaron Gentry said. “Most school bus crashes in the state are when someone rear-ends the bus.” Otherwise, Gentry said small accidents occur from buses sliding off the roadway during winter or when two buses strike each other in parking lots.

Statewide, Ohio State Highway Patrol records show school bus crashes have steadily decreased since 2006, from 1,671 to 1,579 in 2010. Last year, there were 77 fewer school bus crashes in Ohio than in 2009, but several area counties saw increases.

In 2010 Montgomery County had 92 accidents — nine more than the previous year. Greene County had 17 accidents — an increase of 10 over the previous year.

Miami County had three more with 15 and Butler County had 53, an increase of one.

State patrol officials reached in Montgomery and Greene counties couldn’t say why the numbers are up locally but they cautioned motorists to be on alert with most area schools opening this week and next.

Sgt. John Lumpcik of the Xenia patrol post said law enforcement officials’ biggest concern is drivers passing stopped school buses that are loading or unloading children.

“For them to be cited for that, all we need is the bus driver to give us the license plate, unlike other traffic violations where we are required to view the violation,” Lumpcik said.

Lumpcik noted that they get bus drivers reporting violators’ license plate numbers “fairly frequently. We investigate a lot of those.”

Last month, bus drivers in Beavercreek, Cedar Cliff and Sugarcreek school districts participated in a collaborative safety training exercise with representatives of the Beavercreek, Bellbrook, Sugarcreek Twp. and Cedarville fire departments and the state patrol. They gathered at Bellbrook High School, where they worked with a decommissioned bus that was overturned in the parking lot.

“While our drivers receive ongoing training in safety procedures, it’s important to offer hands-on scenarios that reflect real-life situations,” Todd Scott, Beavercreek Schools, Transportation Services supervisor, said at the time. “These types of simulations better equip drivers to respond to emergency situations.”

Marianne Meineke, an on-bus instructor, safety trainer and bus driver with Kettering City Schools said there is a Safety Village class regarding school buses for kids in the summer, and the district provides a kindergarten through third-grade safety program, as designated by the state.

Meineke said the district holds multiple in-service days throughout the year, the first of which is Wednesday for this school year, and offer additional safety training. This includes everything from wheelchair provisions to five-point harnesses for preschoolers.

In addition to training, area schools are increasingly relying on technology as a safety tool.

Kettering’s buses are equipped with cameras and DVRs to record activity and Dayton Public officials hope that equipping its entire fleet of school buses with global-positioning system (GPS) technology will improve efficiency, safety and customer service.

“It’s a full safety package,” James P. Harris, Dayton Public’s chief operating officer, said, adding the district paid about $150,000 to equip all 169 of its buses with the technology. The district’s buses, which also pick up charter and parochial school students, cover a 55-square mile-region.

The palm-size saucers attached to the top of the buses won’t tell the bus drivers where to go, but they will provide information to transportation officials, who can monitor speed and timeliness.

“The real benefit is if someone calls to say someone is speeding through the neighborhood. We can put that up in real time,” he said. “We can tell how fast that bus is going.”

The district has been testing the system for about two years by using GPS technology on about 30 buses.

School board President Nancy Nerny hopes the new technology will go a long way toward reducing the number of calls from parents who complain about the bus service.

“To me, it’s our poorest customer service aspect of our business,” she said.

Dayton Public’s Office of Transportation on Monday used automated calls to notify its 15,000 students of bus and route assignments. The school district, which opens Wednesday, is among several area schools opening this week. Trotwood-Madison City Schools and Bishop Fenwick High School opened Monday and Mad River Local Schools opens today. Other schools opening include Miamisburg, Jefferson Twp., Tecumseh, Tri-County North, Twin Valley South, as well as Chaminade Julienne, Carroll and Alter Catholic high schools.

Lumpcik and other law enforcement officials caution motorists to be aware now that school buses are back out on the road.

“School bus drivers are usually very safe,” Gentry said. “When school starts we preach for people to stop for red lights, watch for kids getting off the bus and use more caution when driving around buses.”

Staff writers Jill Kelley, Mark Gokavi and Katherine Ullmer contributed to this report.