Buses back on the road, means back to bus safety

Those big yellow school buses will be back on the road after September Long Weekend, with students heading back to class shortly. With the start of another school year only a few days away, Western School Division is putting out a call regarding its need for a few more bus drivers.

"We always need help with bus drivers, whether it's full time routes or spare drivers, but this year in particular we're still looking for another two full-time drivers," explained Transportation Supervisor Adam Adamson. "We consider full-time drivers to be 7 till 9am and then 3 till 5pm, and then we have extracurricular trips in between, or after school, as well, so we're always looking for spares."

What's required to become a bus driver?

"A class 2F license with MPI, as well as a school bus drivers operator certificate," he noted. "There's several tests involved, but we provide training."

Anyone interested is encouraged to reach out to Adamson directly at the Division office.

Buses back on the road, means back to bus safety

Adamson stressed we all need to tread with caution around them.

"Regardless, whether you're around school buses, or just in traffic in general, always be alert, always be aware, assess situations and always look a couple of seconds ahead as opposed to what you're doing in the here and now," he explained. "Particularly around school buses, just give them the space. Give them the space so those drivers can do what they need to do. They're professionally trained. They know how to handle their vehicle."

When asked to reflect on the biggest frustrations drivers face, he immediately pointed back to motorists giving them the space to operate safely.

"Allowing these drivers the time to do what they need to do in terms of maneuvering the vehicles, as well as allowing students the safe space to get on and off the buses," he said while also pointing to stop signs and stop lines. "With my drivers I always say stop at the stop sign before heading forward. For example, here in the city, you'll have stop signs as well as stop lines. That's where you're supposed to stop, even if there isn't a stop line. If you see a sidewalk you are supposed to stop."

He also highlighted people simply being in a hurry as a safety risk around buses.

"I think the misconception is the stop sign itself on the buses, like every other stop sign we see, traffic stops and then continues, but when it comes to school buses stop means stop until those signs and the red lights have been deactivated."

Western School Division operates 18 full-time bus routes, eleven which are rural/city and then seven in the city only. 

- With files from Ty Hildebrand -