Danger Zones and Loading/Unloading Students
Danger Zones and Loading/Unloading Students
This domain tests whether you know exactly where a child disappears from your mirrors, how the loading and unloading sequence must run, and what must be true before the bus moves again.
The 10-foot danger zone
The danger zone is the area within 10 feet of the bus on all four sides. The deadliest part is the front-right corner and right front wheel: a small child standing there is hidden by the hood and sits outside the useful view of the convex mirror. The area directly behind the bus is equally lethal, and the blind spot extends far enough back that a child who walks behind the bus cannot see you and you cannot see them.
The stop sequence
- Turn on amber warning lights at least 100 feet before the stop, earlier at higher speeds; red lights and the stop arm only after the bus is stopped.
- Pull as close to the right edge as practical so students do not have to cross.
- Count students off at every stop and count again as they board.
- A student who must cross walks forward along the shoulder to at least 10 feet ahead of the bumper, to the left front corner, and stops at your window.
- Give the hand signal only when the danger zone is clear in both mirrors, and keep watching until the student reaches the far shoulder before retracting the stop arm.
Worked example
Three students exit. Two turn up a driveway; one must cross. The driver counts three, watches the pair clear the right side, then follows the crosser to a point 10 feet ahead of the bumper. The student stops, makes eye contact, receives the signal, crosses, and reaches the far shoulder. Only then do the red lights go off, the stop arm retract, and the bus move.
Traps
Retracting the stop arm while a student is still within 10 feet; waving a child across while your eyes are in the mirror; letting a child return for a dropped item (the child should leave it and tell you); forgetting the long front-right corner on a conventional bus.