The Bus Driver
15 Years Experience
South, ..
Female, 37
I have been a bus driver since late 2006. I know the inside story, the scoop, the down low dirt of what it takes to be a bus driver, how to handle kids and adults, and how to survive on the "streets" so to speak. I used to have a blog, feel free to browse it or ask me a question here.
If the bus is 30 feet from the intersection, then yes, you can continue travelling on the perpendicular road, however if the bus is closer than that and is clearly letting kids disembark from the bus, its better to be safe and stop than sorry because you ran over a child and were not looking. Children are unpredictable and at any point can go a direction one least expects, including darting back across the street to the bus for a forgotten item.
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Hiyas Rootin!
I don't mind when talkitive children sit closer to the front and ask me questions. Sometimes, it can get a bit annoying especially when I'm trying to pay attention to driving in stressful situations, but usually a simple, "Please be quiet for a few minutes, kiddo." usually helps and then the kid does not feel like I am ignoring them. I have many kids ask me if they can open the manual door when we are at a stop. I usually tell them that I will let them open the door at their stops. Some of the older students like to sit up front and chat with me and often will tell me things that are annoying them or upsetting them and ask me for advice.
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Good question Haleigh!
That is really a question that is only answered depending on the district your school is in. Typically speaking though, if the bus services the school, then yes, we normally let children ride in the mornings. We know that sometimes kids end up staying with grandma, or over at a friends house, and usually try to accommodate that situation. If the bus has to go out of district to deliver you to school, then we do have a right to refuse bus service for that reason. Often if a bus driver is faced with an unknown face at a bus stop, either the child has a note written by a parent to present to the bus driver, or the bus driver will radio the bus shop to get clearance. Most of the time we are able to help you out.
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No, that is illegal to do. I will air out my bus without students on it by utilizing the door, but I will never open the door while the bus is moving and in gear with students on it.
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We need to have rosters on our bus. If we are ever in an accident or the police come on our bus, we have to be able to give them an accurate roster of who is on the bus at any given time. Obviously, the system isn't perfect because there are several children on a bus at any given time, but its important for us to have your childs name, address, phone numbers of both parents, emergency phone numbers, and any allergies or medical conditions such as Asthma or ADHD that we need to be aware of.
I promise you, we are not casing your house or your child, but it helps the school keep track of which kids are supposed to ride buses home or getting picked up. Some kids also only ride the bus in the mornings or in the afternoons. It helps us keep track of how many kids are on the bus.
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Sometimes situations happen when a parent is not home to receive their child. We typically instruct the child to knock on the door to try to find out if someone is home. If the child cannot get someone to the door, I will usually send an older student to try to knock harder on the door because little fists don't knock very loudly. Failing that, we will radio in to the bus yard in order to try to get a parent on the phone while we finish the route, drop all other students off and then radio back to the bus yard for advice on how to proceed. If the student's parents are still not home, I will walk to the front door and knock, but I will not open it or enter a stranger's home. In cases where the parents are constantly absent from the bus stop, we will actually take the children up to the police station because of the lack of parental supervision for the child.
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Well obviously, we don't do this job for the money by any means! Most people drive the bus to get the insurance. In my district we usually drive from 5 am to 8 am and then from 2:30 pm to 5 pm. Unfortunately not a lot of workplaces care to hire someone from 8-2 ish. I marketed myself for weekends as well, and it was hard to find a second job. Ideally a job working at a doctor office or lawyers office part time between bus routes would be perfect for someone to go to, if the employers would work with the bus needs. I make extra money by volunteering to take field trips. I also got a job as a transit bus driver for nights and weekends which allowed me to expand my client base from just children. Good luck!
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