School districts stress safety around buses

Wkrn Channel 2 School districts around the mid-south have set aside this week to raise awareness about incidents involving school buses and how to stay safe around buses. The school bus transportation system is the single largest public transportation system in the United States. In the state of Tennessee, over 600,000 students ride the bus every year. In terms of accidents in Davidson County, during the 2006-2007 school year, there were 172 school bus accidents. Davidson County has taken a new step this is year to try and cut down on the accidents. Bus monitors have been added to every special education school bus in the school system. News 2 spoke to one of the special education bus drivers to see how the effort has made an impact. Bus driver Angeline Spurlock said, "With the traffic now, and people that I see on cell phones, and so many people on the roads, our focus is safety." Spurlock says her bus monitor has acted like a very helpful extra set of eyes aboard her bus. She adds, "Drivers are really trying to pay attention to not get too close and to drive, and that gives her a chance to really focus in on what's behind me because I've got just a small mirror I am looking behind at." There are a few things you may not know about being around a school bus. The danger zone for a bus is described as the area 10 feet around the bus, and the most dangerous places are the front of the bus and the right rear tire area. The best thing to do is to try and stay 10 giant steps away from the bus whenever possible.