Back to School Driving

It was scary! One school bus, three bottom loader dump trucks, a small car, and a narrow two lane highway.

It's back to school time for the little ones ( and not so little). We have been warned about watching for children in crosswalks and around the school grounds.

But, has anyone thought about moving school buses on the rural highway? From what I witnessed today, I don't think so.

People are forgetting that many school buses are not exactly performance vehicles when they start out and even worse when full of children. Imagine the fear that this bus driver was given after turning onto a rural highway only to find three bottom loader dump trucks ( the long kind that dump from the bottom) baring down on them at full speed ( over 75 MPH) . Now remember that both types of vehicles are wide and that the bus is not that stable when forced to take evasive actions. The only path the bus was given was the very narrow shoulder of the road. What makes this even worse is that the trucks did not try to slow down at all.

In other words, they forced a bus load of children off the road into the shoulder and nearly into a ditch because the way a bus handles. This was the most wreck less driving I have seen so far on State Highway 94 near Ellicott, CO. I am very glad that the bus driver had the wherewithal to keep the bus under control and protect the children during probably the most intense 20 seconds of their lives.

So from this, please keep an eye on school buses on rural highways that are loading or unloading children with that special STOP sign out or that are trying to get back up to speed on our rural roads.