Think about it.  Mechanical devices are not foolproof and, I don’t know about you, but I sure wouldn’t want my child to be on the bus that is crossing a track where the warning signals are malfunctioning and a train is bearing down on the intersection.  Our children would not have a chance. See the short video here.  We wouldn’t want our children, or anyone’s children, to be on that bus when a train hits it.

There’s never a good reason why a school bus doesn’t stop at a railroad crossing or — worse yet — why a car would try to pass a school bus that has stopped at a crossing.

If you have questions about the law that requires school buses to stop at railroad crossings in Virginia, call our firm at 703-273-9500, send me an email at srohrstaff@WRSattorneys.com or contact us through our website, www.WRSattorneys.com.  There is no charge for the time we spend answering your questions.

Let me be clear:  Like the law in most states, the law in Virginia is that a stopped school bus is not to be passed, whether you are behind it going in the same direction or in the travel lane coming towards the bus if you are on an undivided roadway.  If you are approaching a stopped bus from the opposite dirction on a divided road or highway, you may proceed.  If the bus is on a side street (not on the roadway you are on), you can go past.  But that’s about it.  Otherwise, you have to stop and wait for the red lights to go off, the red stop sign arm to be folded in, and the bus to begin moving before you can move.

Driving past a stopped school bus is a disaster waiting to happen.  Cars are big and buses are bigger; children are small.  No driver has any excuse to disobey this crucial law designed to save the lives of our children.

If your child was hit and injured by a car that was passing a stopped school bus, you should contact a lawyer who is experienced in representing children recover for their losses.  I will be glad to answer your questions about getting compensation for your child.  Give me a call at 703-273-9500, send me an email at srohrstaff@wrsattorneys.com, or contact me through my firm’s website, www.WRSattorneys.com.  I answer your questions for free.

Although five of the seven injured children were taken to Fairfax Hospital, none was seriously injured.  However, the incident is an early reminder of what every parent fears as they put their child on a school bus.

Although school buses are among the larger vehicles on the road, they carry our most precious cargo – our children.  The fact is that children are not restrained and, even in minor collisions, they can be tossed around inside the large, yellow metal box we call a school bus.  School bus accidents can cause many types of injuries to children, including:

♦    Head trauma, including brain injury or concussion

♦    Broken bones

♦    Spinal injuries

♦    Permanent scarring

♦    Emotional distress, including fear and anxiety

♦    Death

I wrote an article  on our website about questions you should ask and things to think about if your child is in a school bus accident.

If your child is injured in a school bus accident, you may want to consult a lawyer who is experienced in helping the parents of children who have been injured.  I have written a book full of information for people who have been injured in accidents.  You can get your free copy at http://www.WRSattorneys.com or by calling me at 703-273-9500 or sending me an email to srohrstaff@wrsattorneys.com.  I will be happy to answer your questions for free.

Those four “W” questions are great questions for parents to ask when their young children, or children with special needs, start riding the school bus. 

Here are 12 questions by Terri Mauro at About.com from her column about special needs children.  The questions are helpful for any parent of a young child or a child going to a new school — or any parent whose child gets on a school bus every day to go to school.

Last January, in a small community in southern Virginia, after school had been in session for months, a young pre-kindergarten student was killed when he was hit by a school bus – in the school parking lot.  There was no need for such a tragedy to happen.

There was no need for the child to have been walking through the parking lot where buses would be moving; however, the drop off and pick up system used by the school required children to walk in the parking lot to get from the bus to the sidewalk.  A young child of four could not have known the danger he was in when he got off the bus and walked in front of it to get to the sidewalk. 

I personally know the family who lost their child in southern Virginia.  Since learning of that tragedy, I read about another child in New Jersey, a twelve-year-old girl, who was hit by a school bus while walking in the school parking lot.  There were no designated pedestrian paths or crosswalks. 

These incidents show what happens when a school system does not devote time and resources to preparing a safe parking lot design or plan for getting children safely to and from the buses, including providing sufficient supervision. 

Statistically, school buses are one of the safest modes of transportation.  (According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 25 million students are in school with an average of 500,000 school buses on the roads.)  With more than twice as many children being killed while getting on or off school buses than while riding in them, I wonder why we can’t get that part right.

A study reported in Human Factors:  The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Winter 2004, found that using a cell phone, regardless of using a hands-free device, is a serious distraction to a driver.  (”Human factors” — also called “ergonomics” — is the study of how humans behave physically and psychologically in particular situations.)  A later study found that drivers who are distracted by cell phone use have impairments similar to drivers who have an alcohol level of .08 (the level at which a driver in Virginia is presumed to be drunk).  Given the fact that drivers using cell phones are more numerous than drivers who are drunk, it is reasonable to conclude that drivers using cell phones are more dangerous than drunk drivers. 

And, if so many drivers are on cell phones, I would certainly want my child’s school bus driver to be the most alert one, trained to avoid the dangers of the cell phone users.

What would your child’s school system say if you asked about its policy of allowing school bus drivers to talk on cell phones while driving?

The beginning of school is always a little scary for children and their parents.  Of course, one fear we have is for the safety of our children going to and from school.         

Have you checked out the school bus safety procedures at your child’s school?  Small children and big buses can lead to tragedy if good safety measures are not followed.  Here are a few questions every parent should have answers to.

•  What kind of training have the bus drivers had?  How much experience driving children on buses has your child’s bus driver had?

•  Do your children know where they are to wait for the bus and when to get on and off?

•  Have you gone to the school to see what the traffic pattern is for buses loading and unloading children?  Are buses allowed to move while children are walking in the parking lot?

•  Do the buses have seat belts?  Is the school planning on having them installed in buses?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has lots of information on school bus safety.