I am an employee of one of the largest school bus transportaion companies. I've recently experienced a hea related illness while driving the school bus. coencidently, I was driving alone, but, had there been air conditioning, it would have made my job a lot easier to continue.
Driving since 1988 yes I can relate I thanked God when we got air doors but it was too late for my hands, I was told that my arthritic hands were not from driving a school bus but I know that every nice day I personally put down every single window and put them back up and that's when the windows were devils to put down and up, and when they put vents in the top of the bus, they didn't have a nice handle on them like they do now just a lip, wouldn't you know that my knuckles were injured from pulling on the lips of the vents to shut them, but it wasn't due to the vents, I was predestined to have arthritis,yea right thank God for the handles,the air doors and the windows being easier to put up and down.And by the way I have had numerous buses through the years and there was one in peticular that I remember that will give you chills, It was a diesel bus and it always had black shooty dust on the dash the window ect., any way it was pasted on to two other drivers after me, they both died, one had cancer....makes you wonder.I'm grateful for still being here even if my hands are not the same and sad that the two other drivers are not.
I would like to add we need to have heaters.This is my fourth year driving and still no heat.I am at the point I can not concentrate any longer.Yes,I realize you are talking about it being too hot but please do not forget about the other extrees.Some days we have single digit temps.
I have driven a school bus for 12 years. On this 13th year I hurt so bad and it was so hot on my bus the start of school that I feel I can am no longer a safe school bus driver.
How is a school driver supposed to drive sports trips for up to 4.5 hours then sit with bus in 100 degree heat waiting for games to be done and then drive 4.5 hours back home. Games last from 1.5 to all day. Don't forget to stop for food both ways. The bus is of course hotter than the outside temperature.
NO AIR CONDITIONING AT 55 MILES PER HOUR. A shortage of school bus drivers. YA THINK????
My father drives a school bus and the other day he took a picture of the themometer. It read 123 degrees when he started his afternoon trip. It is way too hot for the bus drivers and kids to be stuck on the bus with no a/c. If was driving a bus full of dogs, they would have had a/c a long time ago! Don't wait until someone dies before this issue is resolved, it will be too late then.
I am a driver, seven years now, and I have driven for 4 days during over 100 degrees on a school bus and I have to quit, I feel faint and get spots in front of my eyes and told my boss, but no one to cover me, I am getting worried and we need help. fyi, my friend has an indoor thermometer on bus and it registered 117-118 degrees for over 2 hour trip,whether bus is moving or standing still for frequent stops. please help us
Unbelievable. What idiot would not require air conditioning on a school bus? The school won't let the kids outside when it's 110, but it's perfectly acceptable to shove them in a 140-degree oven for the ride home? Morons. Our government is filled with morons.
Grant Money should be given to school districts to retrofit older buses with a/c. and the school district must report back to osha is to how many buses were retrofited and on site inspection of the buses retrofited with all work orders. or the school district will get a fine for misuse of grant money
What are children and bus drivers supposed to do when it is raining outside and they are only able open the window a crack? That is not enough to keep cool in the extreme heat of summer.
110 degrees here in Texas today and my child had to ride in an unairconditioned tin can for 50 minutes each way--in the city with multiple stops in the hot sun. This is a real safety issue.
In the City of Tempe air conditioning is not required on school buses, regardless of the fact they often run when temperatures are well over 100 degrees. This is not safe for the drivers nor the students.
most parents don;'t know the conditions their children are being transported to school such as overcrowding, exposure to illness and proper temperature control. Regular school buses have no air conditioning and slow and inadequate heat.
My son was treated for profuse sweating after nearly a one hour ride on a school bus home with no airconditioning. What a way to spend the first day of school. Also, a school bus caught fire on the first day here in Henry County GA. Thank God all of the students and dirver got off safely. This is a wake up call!
no a.c. on our busses, yet they keep starting school earlier and earlier. This week is suppose to be 112 degrees b4 heat index. can not even begin to imagine what it will be like in the busses aka box ovens
My daughter is on the bus for 25 minutes and is soaked by the time she gets home. I do not see how it is safe for children to be on a bus without air conditioning when it is 110 out in Arizona.
My children are overheating. It is hot and humid here in Joplin MO. My daughter is on medication and she gets overheated easily. I fear that she may have a heat stroke. The school will do nothing about this problem. I suppose air conditioning is not required and it needs to be, for the safety of children.
My kids are on Summer Camp, and they are going to a fieldtrip today approximatly 45 minutes. They are being put on a School-Base Bus which does not have air conditioning. It gets really hot here in FL.
75,000 for a bus needs a/c. stop by and put your kid on the bus my kids ride.its a joke.get off your a---- and do something. buy the way this is 2011, not 1960
My son about cooked yesterday. He has Cerebral Palsy and was placed in a bus with no a/c and 95 degrees for is 45 minute ride home. It took three hours for him to 'come back to normal'. Please pass this petition!
I am a school bus driver in Scottsdale, and my bus does not direct any of the air conditioning to the driver's area. Summers reach 112 deg in Arizona. This is unacceptable.
As a school bus driver in Arizona I have been driving a bus that doesn't have air conditioning for 4yrs now. In August temps reach well into the 110 to 115 degree range. This is totally unrealistic to transport students in a sweat box that looks like an over grown Twinkie. Voters have passed a bill to allow us to purchase 10 new buses. However because there is no mandate to have all future buses air condition powers to be will not spend the money to do so.
As a school bus driver in Arizona I have been driving a bus that doesn't have air conditioning for 4yrs now. In August temps reach well into the 110 to 115 degree range. This is totally unrealistic to transport students in a sweat box that looks like an over grown Twinkie. Voters have passed a bill to allow us to purchase 10 new buses. However because there is no mandate to have all future buses air condition powers to be will not spend the money to do so.
my bus does not have tinted windows, some windows do not open and they do not fix them its a do it your self. every summer for 6 years I have asked to use a bus with tinted windows i have always been told no even when there available they still say no. this past sommer i suffered a stroke. during the winter they won't let us idle the busses to keep warm I've had pneumonia 2 and 3 times every year there is much much more wrong with how school bus drivers are treated.
my bus does not have tinted windows, some windows do not open and they do not fix them its a do it your self. every summer for 6 years I have asked to use a bus with tinted windows i have always been told no even when there available they still say no. this past sommer i suffered a stroke. during the winter they won't let us idle the busses to keep warm I've had pneumonia 2 and 3 times every year there is much much more wrong with how school bus drivers are treated.
The petition clearly states the problem---------------now, lets get OSHA
protection for school bus drivers as has been passed for the protection of employees in other industries,
we are in a battle right now with our county board of education to have our special needs busses retrofitted with ac, and have a new ac policy in effect. Frederick County, maryland
As a school bus driver this is an issue that is continually gets swept under the rug. The transportation department states that is not a law that air-conditioning be provided on a bus. Our bus drivers are put at risk and students are at risk in the the extreme heat conditions. I see more and more parents actually driving their children to school due to this issue. Parents are even taking a high risk by packing students into their vehicles without having or using the proper seat restraints. We all know that it is safer to have students on a bus. Lets have OSHA protect our environment on school buses. Their have been many extreme heat condition warnings in Arizona this summer alone can you just imagine how hot these buses are without proper functioning air-conditioning.
I am a parent in New Orleans, La, and this is a BIG, BIG problem. All buses need air conditioning, this can cause a big lawsuit if someone get sick, because of heat exhustion whether it a child, or the driver. Please think about the driver and the children. There is no water or drinks on the bus, so dehydration can occur quickly. The index is to high for 30-40 people to be in one area with no air conditionig, especially when it rains, and all windows are up. Please, Please make ALL BUSES AIR CONDITION.
Our schools are finally being updated with adequate air conditioning for our children, now it is even more important to update our buses with adequate air conditioning. We live in the desert here, today as an example, I drove my car and the outside temp was 119F...after sitting in the parking lot for an hour the temp read 126F. Even with my air conditioning going full blast...the heat in that car was unbearable and hard to breathe...can you imagine our children in a bus? I would bet the temp would've been much higher in the bus after sitting there. There is a much higher rate of asthma these days, and with the air quality at unhealthy levels when the heat is so high, it's not even feasible to open windows for ventilation to further expose our children to the bad elements. It's bad enough on healthy children, totally unacceptable for handicapped/illness ridden children to have to suffer. It's time to remedy this for our children...after all they are OUR FUTURE!!! School districts like ours need to put funds to use that will benefit our children, the money is funded for the children...stop padding the administration and put the money to use where it is supposed to be put...towards our children's education, health, and safety!!! Thank You...
As a school bus driver living and working where the temperatures in the summer, and sometimes early fall and late spring, are well over 100 degrees, I completely agree with making OSHA add this. I have seen the children with sweat looting down the beat red faces and there was nothing I could do for them. I finally went and bought bandanas, wet them and had the children lay them around the back of their necks... It offered some relief but nothing like air conditioning would have!
I am not old, over weight or any of the other things that were listed here, but it is still very hard on a body to suffer when you are dealing with such high temperatures!! Especially hard on the special needs children who I am now driving everyday with no a/c!!
Thank you for listening
Request Congress to Extend OSHA Protections to School Bus Operations and School Buses.
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NO AIR CONDITIONING AT 55 MILES PER HOUR. A shortage of school bus drivers. YA THINK????
protection for school bus drivers as has been passed for the protection of employees in other industries,
I am not old, over weight or any of the other things that were listed here, but it is still very hard on a body to suffer when you are dealing with such high temperatures!! Especially hard on the special needs children who I am now driving everyday with no a/c!!
Thank you for listening
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