Need some advice please!!My Kids were in Bus accident!!

[86gngirl]

Today my kids school bus wrecked with a full load of kids, no one thank god was hurt. Apparently the bus driver passed out and crossed lanes and hit a parked truck. My kids are just a bit shaken up but are ok. I have been arguing with my kids school about getting their bus stop changed. The stop they are at is 1/4 mile away from my house, and I refuse to let my 11 year old daughter and 9 year old son walk alone that far so I drive them or walk with them. I can not see the stop at all from my house plus every morning there is almost or is an accident. We stand 20 foot from the main road and witness the accidents all the time. We even had the pleasure of watching an S10 Blazer slam into the back of a Honda. Thank god no one got hurt, but again we were only 20 foot away. If we stood back any further the bus would not see the kids and wouldn't stop. The road is dangerous to begin with and the stupid Transportation Supervisor tells me to have the kids stand back atleast 15 from the road, HELLO we stand 20 feet and still in harms way. Its hard to explain the road, but take my word for it you don't want your kids standing there. Well I asked them to change the bus stop to in front of my house or the neighbors house. My road is less dangerous and we wouldn't have to drive or walk in the snow. The bus would have no problem on my road, but he still refuses to change it. Anyway my kids have half days this week so its 12:30 dismissal. Well I was waiting at the bus stop today for an hour and still no kids!!! One of the Moms at the stop finally calls the school,from her cell phone, and they tell us what happened. Our kids are being questioned by police for the report giving their names and addresses. No one can tell us where our kids are for 10 minutes, then finally say they are being loaded on another bus and dropped off at their stops, we should have gotten a call about the situation. Well I'm not at my house to get the call cause I'm waiting 1/4 mile away from my house phone to get said call!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had my cell phone on me but it never rang, how would I have know if my kids were hurt? They have my cell number, why didn't they call it? The school is about 25 to 30 minutes away from my house, so by the time I realize that something may be wrong with the bus its pretty much too late. So I guess what I'm asking is what would you do? I cant afford to drive them to and from school every day with gas @ $3.10 a gallon, and I'm already paying school tax for the bus transportation. So what would you do if you were in my position?

Thanks for reading, I know its long but I needed to vent alittle. I did manage to keep the language clean and not say how I really feel.:redface: But you get the point.

 

[notacarlo]

First, write the school board for the district. Let them know about the acidents you have seen. Get the other parents involved and get them to sign an affidavit with your concern as the subject. Finish the letter off with a little well written anger about how long it took to find out that your children had been involved in a moving vehicle accident.

Watch the evening news, it should be on there....even if it's a small piece. Then get in contact with the journalist that did the piece. They are very easy to get into contact with, they WANT to hear anything you have to say - especially any back information they don't already know about. If they do another piece, it will just add to the pressure on the district to add different stops to the route.

Keep in mind, you may not get exactly what you want. I think you will get a result that will ease your mind!

Hope this helps!!

Dan

 

[BlackMetal]

I really like "notacarlo's" suggestion about getting in contact with a news station. If you get this situation onto the local news then there will be much more pressure to do something about it.

Worst case scenario if nothing gets better with the bus situation, keep your kids safe and pay $3/gallon to drive them.

 

[86gngirl]

Thanks for the reply.I have done most of what you had said. It was also on the news, so I have that in my favor at the moment. Here are the emails back and forth between the two of us. This guy is an ass.

Hi Mr. Kline,
 
 
Stacie WagnerMy name is Stacie Wagner. I am writing this in reference to my children's bus stop at Bankschool and West Hardies. It is unsafe for them to be at this stop due to multiple accidents that happen on a regular bases. The most recent was this morning when a car almost rear-ended another, which would have pushed the car into a bus stop full of children. Enough is enough. I am tired of the cars the blow threw the bus lights when my children are boarding, and I'm tired of my children being in harms way. A couple of weeks ago my children witnessed an accident at the same location while waiting for the bus. One car was traveling at a high speed down the hill and did not attempt to stop till last minute and struck the car in front of them. My children where only 15 to 20 feet away!! You are welcome to look at the bus stop, the fence has been hit multiple times and the stop sign is replaced atleast twice a month. Why cant the bus come down Wickline, turn right on to Hardies, turn left onto Arnold, pick up my 2 children and the neighbor boy, continue down Arnold Ave, turn left onto Bankschool Rd. and pick up the Anderson children, continue on Bankschool, turn right onto Hardies and continue the bus route from there. Now please do not tell me that this cant be done. A Hampton bus (81, R ) already drives this road so I know for a fact the bus will fit on this street. Please before my children get seriously hurt, something needs done. You can contact me at any time if you wish at home (724)443-XXXX. If I do not answer please leave a message and I will get back to you ASAP. Thank you for your time and await your call.
 


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Mrs. Wagner,
 
I have reviewed the request as per your email below and unfortunately cannot make the requested change.  There are several reasons that we cannot re-route the bus onto Arnold Drive as you suggested:
 
    1.)    There is an existing stop on West Hardies in between Wickline and Banks School.  There would be no way to get to this stop by bypassing that portion of West    Hardies Road.
 
    2.)    You are correct that a Hampton Bus travels on Arnold Drive.  However, the reason for this is that the hill on Banks School makes it difficult for a large bus to accelerate onto West Hardies - so in that situation, we are using Arnold Drive to bypass Banks School Rd.
 
I reviewed the Banks School Road / West Hardies stop and feel that it will be beneficial if the children wait for the bus on the side of Banks School Road closest to Josephine (next to the picket fence) and at a safe distance away from West Hardies.  I will let the bus driver know to be on the lookout for them; however please make sure that they stand in a consistent location so the driver is able to see them.
 
I hope that this situation is acceptable to you and your family.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jeffrey Kline
Director of Administrative Services
Hampton Township School District
 

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Mr. Kline,
With all due respect, you have some miss information.
 
1) The only bus stop on West Hardies after it turns off Wickline is Bankschool then Josephine. I watch it come off Wickline and down the hill to our stop.
 
2) I have seen large busses and Tractor Trailer trucks pull off of Bankschool on to West Hardies all the time. It is possible for a bus to do this. The busses don't seem to have a problem accelerating on and up Wickline.
 
3) our children stand at least 20 foot from the road by said fence already and it is still unsafe. Any further back, the driver would not be able to see the children.
 
If it is that big of a deal, why couldn't the bus come down Arnold Ave, turn right on to Bankschool, then left on to Josephine, and back out on to West Hardies after all the children are picked up. I know what's going to happen, some one is going to get seriously hurt before anything is done. The police are already aware of the problems on West Hardies, not much can be done. I would like to invite you to stand with us at our stop for 2 weeks and witness these events for yourself and then ask yourself if you would feel safe with your children standing there.
 
Thank you for your time,
Stacie Wagner


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Mrs. Wagner,
 
I reviewed the stop and the research again - there is a stop at #2320,2324 and 2328 W. Hardies, which is in between Wickline and Banks School.  It is listed on the route schedule - there may be days when the children assigned there do not ride.  The link to the schedule is below:
 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
I reviewed the stop again and cannot make the change you requested for the reasons I outlined last week.  I am going to request of the Hampton Police the number of accidents at the W. Hardies / Banks School intersection for further information.  I will let you know the results.
 
If you wish to pursue the stop / route change further, your next course of action would be to speak to the School Board.  This could be done at one of our meetings - the next one is November 12th in the Hampton Middle School Library or by contacting Dr. Harold Sarver, the Board Chairman for Transportation.
 
Sincerely,
 
Jeffrey Kline
Director of Administrative Services
Hampton Township School District

 

[JOHNDEEREGN]

Lawyer Up:biggrin: his s*it will get weak real quick.

 

[CARTMAN]

I cant afford to drive them to and from school every day with gas @ $3.10 a gallon, and I'm already paying school tax for the bus transportation. So what would you do if you were in my position?

I wouldn't care if gas was $1000.10 a gallon. I could never measure my children's safety against the price of a gallon of gas. It doesn't sound like you work so if *I* were in your position I would sell/trade my GN for a more fuel efficient/reliable vehicle or gas money and get them to and from school safely myself. You can always buy another GN down the road when finances are better.

 

[86gngirl]

I wouldn't care if gas was $1000.10 a gallon. I could never measure my children's safety against the price of a gallon of gas. It doesn't sound like you work so if *I* were in your position I would sell/trade my GN for a more fuel efficient/reliable vehicle or gas money and get them to and from school safely myself. You can always buy another GN down the road when finances are better.

Beleive me I would do that in a heart beat if needed, but there is not a need for it. The fact is that this guy couldnt take the time out to look at the problem. Its not just my kids, its a bunch of peoples kids at the same bus stop and we have all bitched. Now this happens.

 

[Pronto]

Get yourself elected to the school board and get things to change. We just elected 7 to the schoolboard here yesteday. 5 of the 7 were new.

 

[BLACK6PACK]

We had something similar in our hood when I was growing up. Plus there were about 10 kids on our street that rode the bus and the bus would make 5 stops in a 1/2 mile stretch. My parents called and had the bus stop at our house (mom didn't work). Don't know if you'd like it, but there were 10 kids in our living room watching cartoons every morning waiting for the bus. All the parents were happy cuz the kids were safe, and the school was happy cuz it cut down on the stops. Heck several of my friends would come from 3-4 blocks away to hang at my house and ride the bus.

 

[BandAid]

ummmm yur saying that there are many parents complaining of this stop........start a car pool with the other parents Monday you drive ,the next day is another parent ,and so on ,so now you only have to get out of bed on mondays ,problem solved

 

[86gngirl]

Well thanks for the responses from all of you. Carpooling is out of the question since my car, 05 Lacrosse, is not a Minivan to fit 7 childeren in. I pay a good chunk in taxes to the school district, which is a very good school district that has won many awards for education. Not sure if everyone here knows how much taxes we pay in PA, but its alot. I was looking for suggestions on how to get the fatassed Director of Administrative Services to do his job and what my taxes pay him for. My days are busy enough, and no I dont sit on the couch watching soap operas and eating bon bon's which I get the feeling most of you think I do. But I dont need to explain my days to you, thats not what this thread was started for. Thanks anyway, I will look in to some of the suggested comments and see what I can do.

 

[sbbpwr]

i'd keep a camcorder handy,when these wrecks happen near the bus stop send the video to the local tv station.

 

[a trail rider]

Lodge an open complaint infront of the school board AND/OR call the news and explain to them, it's not just an inconvenience, but it's a PROBLEM! Push the safety aspect as hard as possible without coming off nutty. That is, afterall, your main concern.

My brother called about his daughter having to go about 1/4 mile to her bus stop at the beginning of the yr. At first, they refused to address the issue. When his son rode that bus(he drives now), it stopped closer to the home. This yr, they changed it for a single student. He pushed hard and they decided to make two stops rather than one, so neither child would have to walk. His daughter is only 7 and there's no chance he would allow her to wait alone, not to mention walking so far to and from. It's great that nobody was hurt. Best wishes to get good results.