How safe are school buses in severe weather?
When severe weather hits during school hours, getting your kids home safely is a top priority. AccuWeather takes a look at how bus drivers are trained to handle dangerous road conditions.
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00:00 (bus engine roaring)
00:02 It's a hot summer morning in Denver,
00:05 but Albert Samora's mind is on other things.
00:09 - We're always watching wind.
00:11 We do watch lightning.
00:12 Sometimes we have to deal with cyclone.
00:14 Generally by the time October comes,
00:15 we're dealing with snow, right?
00:17 - Samora is in charge of the buses
00:19 for Denver Public Schools,
00:21 and there's just one thing on his mind
00:23 when he comes to work every day.
00:26 - Safety is number one.
00:27 - That means making sure the district bus drivers
00:29 have the best possible safety training.
00:32 Bus drivers for Denver Public Schools
00:33 need to go through 150 hours of safety training,
00:37 and if they wanna drive in severe weather
00:39 or in the mountain range, they need an additional 30.
00:43 The additional severe weather training
00:44 includes learning how to maintain bus speed
00:46 during rain, snow, and ice,
00:49 when to pull out for traffic,
00:51 and how to maintain control on steep mountain roads.
00:55 Communication is key to deciding whether or not
00:58 there will be a snow day in Denver,
01:00 or in Northeast Ohio, where Tom Evans
01:03 is the superintendent of Cuyahoga Heights Schools.
01:06 - Bus supervisor's out on the roads at 4 a.m.
01:08 the day of, and in contact with myself
01:12 and the other transportation supervisor,
01:15 and we're making decisions then.
01:17 - While they both are involved in making the call,
01:20 parents ultimately have the final say.
01:23 - At the end of the day, it is their decision
01:25 whether they wanna send their kids to school.
01:27 For AccuWeather in Denver, I'm Beau Evans.