Editor:
I would like to respond to a recent (April 18) letter to the editor that raised a concern about the speed at which our school buses travel. Our local drivers put almost 400,000 miles per year on our buses and they carry our most treasured cargo, our children. I am pleased to say that over the past 10 years (that is as far back as I went for information) not one driver has ever received a ticket of any kind while behind the wheel of our school buses. This is an amazing record since we are talking about 4 million miles.
All drivers go through a very intensive training program consisting of 35 hours of classroom training and 15 hours of behind the wheel training before they are allowed to transport students. They also have to take an average of eight hours of courses annually to maintain their bus driver’s license. In addition to these, Sweet Home drivers receive eight additional hours of training in “driving safely in the snow”.
All of our current buses are equipped with a video camera that monitors actions inside the bus. This assists greatly in determining if unsafe conditions are exhibited by anyone on board. Our newer buses are also equipped with an onboard computer system and GPS navigational system. All of these items can help determine if drivers are following speed limit laws.
If we receive a complaint about a particular bus at a particular time, we can identify the speed at which the bus was traveling.
We in the Sweet Home School District are very proud of our bus drivers and we believe they are the safest drivers on the road. However, we do take all concerns seriously. So, if you believe one of our drivers is exceeding the speed limit or driving unsafely, we encourage you to notify the transportation department and we will investigate the situation.
The phone number is 541-367-7129.
Larry Horton,
Superintendent
School District #55