Bus Drivers Train to Keep Your Kids Safe
By: Kristen Kennedy
Updated: August 8, 2008
Early Friday morning a bus crash in Sherman, Texas left at least 14 dead and more than 40 injured. Here in the South Plains, bus drivers go through rigorous training before theyre allowed out on the roads. Drivers at Durham Transportation have to complete anywhere from 40 to 52 hours of training to take kids to school or to drive teams to different cities for games. Randi Bullard with Durham transportation says her drivers are prepared to handle bus emergencies and always have a radio and dispatchers nearby. "Theyre transporting children, theyre our future, that child is important to someone. And were not just transporting boxes somewhere theyre transporting lives so they have to be top notch and ready to do it," says Bullard. Staff do preventative maintenance on the buses every 3,000 miles. Between those checkups, drivers are required to check their tires, lights, blinkers, wipers- everything not under the hood- before they go out and when they get back from routes.
