Playing It Safe
Transportation Tips

IN LIGHT OF THIS summer’s Minneapolis bridge collapse, transportation safety is fresh on the minds of governments, schools, drivers and parents across the country. It should be fresh on yours, too.

Though church buses and school buses aren’t regulated in the same ways, they share many of the same hazards – and they should take many of the same safety precautions.

When the bridge collapsed over the Mississippi River on Aug. 1, a school bus filled with children was on it. The kids trapped on the bridge were evacuated from the bus with the help of a 20-year-old named Jeremy Hernandez, a staff member with the nonprofit group that had taken the children on a summer field trip. Hernandez told reporters that he kicked open the back door of the bus and directed everyone to get out through that emergency door. He said he didn’t have time to think, but knew he needed to form a “human chain,” and started handing kids to another driver who was on the bridge. The kids jumped onto the highway, then onto the sidewalk, and then were told to run. It all turned out well: Two adults and eight kids were hospitalized, but all passengers – 52 children and 9 adults – survived.

Hernandez was widely commended and thanked by the children’s parents for his quick-thinking. In fact, he received an offer of free tuition from a local college. Would your church’s youth group leaders and other volunteer drivers be properly equipped in such an emergency?

Many church vehicle drivers, since they are volunteers, are not professionally trained behind the wheel. Though your drivers aren’t regulated like commercial drivers, you can still apply some of the requirements when choosing volunteers. You can check your own list against the requirements for drivers at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Web site (www.fmcsa.dot.gov). Here are some tips for choosing volunteer drivers, and for transportation safety, in general:

• Make sure your drivers are at least 21 years of age, in good health and physically able to perform all duties of a driver.
• Have your drivers provide you with a list of all motor vehicle violations, or a signed statement that they have not been convicted of any violations during the past 12 months.
• Consider replacing your 15- passenger van with a 15-passenger bus that meets federal safety specifications.
• Make sure passengers keep their heads, arms and hands inside the vehicle and not out the window.
• Keep bus and van aisles clear of bags and other items; these tripping hazards can also block the way in an emergency.
• Carry an emergency or first-aid kit with basic medical supplies, water and even a seat-belt cutter. Also, require your drivers to take CPR or other firstaid classes that will help them respond quickly and effectively in an emergency.
• Make sure any vehicles used for church purposes are appropriately insured.