If Everyone Drove the way School Bus Drivers are Trained

When I first started learning to drive a school bus over six years ago, I discovered that I needed to unlearn some bad habits. It made me aware of how badly most of us drive, yours truly included. Of course there are some bad apples among school bus drivers as well, but if we were all to drive our vehicles, both personal and work, the way school bus drivers are trained, accidents would be very rare. The key is to make sure your vehicle is working properly and that you are driving defensively. Most people learn to pass the road test as teenagers, and then develop the bad habits they see everyone else doing.

If you drove as a bus driver is trained, as you first approach your car, you would walk around it, check the tires, all the lights, and underneath to see if anything is hanging loose. You would check all the switches inside your car.

Once on the road, you would use your turn signal well in advance of a turn and cautiously look both ways at least twice before turning. You would slow down as you approach an intersection with a traffic light, being ready to stop if the light turns yellow. You would never speed up to "beat" the light. If a car in front of you was waiting to turn left, you would never go around it on the right side if it's a single lane. Did you know it's illegal in N.Y.S. to drive on a road shoulder? Many people also use the road shoulder as a turning lane, which is also illegal.

You would come to a full stop at a stop sign. While driving, you would keep a safe distance from the car in front of you and never tailgate. You would be watching your mirrors constantly, including the rearview mirror and the two side door mirrors. You would keep both hands on the wheel at all times. And certainly, you would not be using your cell phone for anything.

These are just some of the procedures that school bus drivers are trained in. Imagine how many accidents would be prevented if people drove defensively like this.