Van accident earlier this month with multiple children taken to hospitals
Editorial
Of course there are more accidents, because there are more people, and more children going back and forth to school in buses. And we should all know by now that statistics can be very misleading. For instance, the number of accidents being reported could be just a side effect of better recordkeeping and better followup by news sources. But it's unlikely that can account for the numbers of serious bus crashes leaving children dead or with the life-threatening injuries we have seen in a 30-mile radius over the past 2 years. I count 5 that I'm aware of, 2 with large numbers of children injured and 3 resulting in the death of very young children. The 3 deaths were of young children who were actually hit by buses, 2 of them on Seven Springs Road near the borders of Kiryas Joel, Monroe and South Blooming Grove. An other accident only about 1 week ago happened on Lake Shore Drive in South Blooming Grove (see above) with a big black SUV smashed into a telephone pole, and Multiple fire and ambulance departments attending and multiple children taken to hospitals. Thankfully, apparently none of the injuries in this one was life-threatening. A 3rd death happened just last week,, "Child killed by bus". in New Square, Rockland County, just after dropping the child off. My "rule of thumb" is that people have a leeway for 1 or two similar mistakes/accidents.. but by the time a third incident has happened without a corrective action, it's some kind of negligence indicating either inability or unwillingness to learn. I may be old enough to have lived in a quieter time, but the schools I attended in Bergen County had their own share of snowy steep and winding roads as a challenge. Yes, now I sound like an old person talking about having to walk miles to school in the snow. I did not, and neither did I live in an unpopulatd area, though maybe not as highly populated as where some of these accidents occurred. Oh, wait ..... my first school was in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. And I walked the 7 blocks from 8th Avenue along 51st street twice a day... and it was safe. In Bergen County, six hundred students attended Ramsey High School, and some of us were bussed 15 or more miles to get there. I NEVER heard of a serious bus accident, let alone children being run over and killed by the bus driver who was responsible for bringing him/her safely to shool. Or was he/she at fault? WHO was watching these childen? Was there no parent or guardian watching the 6-year old? Is overdevelopment part of the problem, leading to overcrowded roads, agitated or poorly instructed drivers? Or do we all just get pressured and agitated by today's "never stop" lifestyles. And if so, what can we/should we do about it?
How is it that three young children are dead, yet there are no news reports about what is being done to prevent further tragedies. I see that in our town of Blooming Grove instruction and testing is required to have a job as a bus driver. I hope that is the case in every municipality. I am heartened to see that Orange County Schools are tending to either have late openings or cancel school when the weather is or is expected to be dangerous to drivers, though weather had apparently no effect in these deaths.
I don't know "The" answer, whether it be staggered classes when traffic and the areas involved are less busy. But I definitely believe children under the age of 9 should be accompanied by an ADULT while waiting for a bus.
Sometimees, and I think this is one of them, stronger measures need to be taken, and 5 possibilities occur to me.
1. Increase the fines and punishments for risky driving.
2. Allow cameras here and there that can record motor vehicle driving that
breaks the law.
3. Give children detailed safety lessons both at school and at home about how they should behave around vehicles, especially if they are or might soon be moving (in case the parents do not.) Role-playing might help ingrain healthy resposes,
4. Require an adult to be present when a child 10 years or younger is near
traffic, whether waiting for a bus or not.
5. Both during Driver's Ed and School Bus or Truck Driver Training, show
them a picture of one or several of the children after they were hit and injured or killed.
The greater issue, and this is purely my personal opinion, is that we have had
too many grand social changes over the past several decades. Not to say that
both parents should not work 40 hour weeks. I get that these days most have to. But It has to have an effect on family dynamics. Maybe preschool can adequaely fill in for those changes and parental gaps, maybe not. The bottom line, in my opinion, is that today's society has too many of us pressured to be in a nearly constant rush. And this rushing about leads to accidents, health effects that are both mental and physical, and a host of other miscalculations in all aspects of our lives. Do I have "the" solution. No. But I suspect it has to do with tending toward a simpler life, and seeking more efficient ways of doing what we have to do daily....but maybe it is better NOT to seek time to always do MORE. Teach our children and model a lifestyle of regular pauses to regenerate and therefore stay healthier in both mind and body, Is it "too old-fashioned" to remember to stop and smell the roses? Rather, to have more time to breathe and let the joys we already have, and let the beautiful environment we live in sink in. Lastly, the most obvious solution is to drive less. Think about how much money you might save if you traded that job a half hour or more away for one closer to home, or at least put a little pressure on your boss or company to allow some "work from home" time, and make sure you have the time to stand with your young one(s) while they wait for the school bus.
I pray that there is a better ending to the tragedies that occured in the 3 young deaths, and that we simply have not heard of many corrective steps that are being taken.
P.S. I am leaving comments turned off to this editorial, because I anticipate there would be some insensitive and possibly hateful remarks that will not be helpful in solving the rising number of vehicular accident victims. If you have a positive or helpful suggestion (other than mass transit which has its own host of resultant problems), please email me at ejreporter@gmail.com with the Subject "School Bus Accidents".
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