New technology has been installed in two Clark-Pleasant school buses with the goal of preventing crashes and making kids’ rides to and from school safer.
This year, Clark-Pleasant schools is testing out a new crash-preventative technology in two buses, and is the only school district in the country with the technology in their buses, Operations Director Bob Downin said.
The new technology, seen on many modern cars, will keep a bus from following too closely behind another car and will automatically brake if a car in front suddenly stops, Downin said. The bus also has radar that can see through fog or heavy snow and alert the driver if they are veering out of their lane, he said.
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The buses also have a stabilization unit, new technology now seen in semi-trucks, that prevents a bus from tipping over in an accident, Downin said. This is an important safety feature that could be the difference between life and death, Downin said.
“Kids have gotten killed on buses because it’s turned over,” Downin said.
The new technology comes from a partnership between national bus manufacturer IC Bus and Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems. Clark-Pleasant was offered to test the safety features for the company for free, Downin said. In his 20 years in the transportation business, Downin has advocated for school bus safety on both the national and state level. His connections gave the school district this opportunity, he said.
In addition to the crash-preventative technology, Clark-Pleasant also added GPS systems to all 70 buses, costing around $27,000, Downin said.
The school district follows Franklin and Center Grove schools, who have had similar systems for a couple years now, school officials said. Greenwood school buses do not have GPS systems because their buses don’t go as far from the schools as the other districts’ buses do, said Mike Hildebrand, operations director for Greenwood schools.
Clark-Pleasant’s GPS can not only tell the transportation office where buses are, but also track if they are speeding, if they brake too hard and how long they sit idling.
The GPS can tell when and where a driver stops, which helps promote efficiency by allowing officials to plan out timing and routes, and also decreases the number of angry calls from parents, Downin said.
“We used to get a lot of calls saying, ‘You didn’t pick up Johnny today. The bus just went right by,” Downin said. “Well now with the GPS, we have the capability of not only knowing if the bus stopped at that location, but how long it was there.”
Parents will also soon be able to know when the bus is arriving with a new app. The transportation department is planning to implement the Here Comes the Bus app with their new GPS system, which Center Grove also uses.
The app tells parents where the bus is both before and after school, and they can know when the bus arrives at school. Parents will receive a notification on their phones when the bus is close to their house, Downin said. The app is helpful especially during cold or severe weather, so kids don’t have to stand outside waiting for a long time, he said. The app will also tell parents if their regular bus is out of service and provide the number of the substitute bus, Downin said.
Clark-Pleasant is slowly transitioning into using the app, with 400 families currently signed up, Downin said. The service should be fully implemented in the next four weeks, he said.
“I learned a long time ago when you start a new program, you don’t shove it all out at once because it ends up being a nightmare,” Downin said.
In emergency situations, such as if a student is having a health issue or if kids are in danger, bus drivers can press a newly installed emergency button that will flag their bus on the GPS system at the office so they can call 911, Downin said. The button isn’t being used yet because officials need to go over the rules and regulations of when to use it, he said.
Clark-Pleasant Superintendent Patrick Spray complimented the transportation department and their dedication to student safety.
“You guys have been focused on safety from day one,” Spray said. “I tell people all the time the safest way to get your kids to school is on our school buses.”
