Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In the State of Washington and other States, schools and day care centers transport our most precious and important passengers – our children. In doing so, the school and day care center drivers have a legal responsibility to drive in a safe manner, obey traffic regulations and signs, and otherwise use their best efforts and judgment to get the children from one place to another. One of the easiest tasks is the responsibility to make sure that all children are removed from the bus at the appropriate stop and certainly by the end of the run. While this is a somewhat simple task, it is one that is commonly overlooked by day care center / school bus drivers and attendants. It certainly requires more that merely checking the rear view mirror or completing a quick glance towards the back of the van or bus. A school bus driver should conduct a visible sweep of the school bus. In other words, a school bus driver should safety park the bus and then get out of his or her seat and walk from the front of the bus or van and look in every seat and aisle all the way to the back and make sure that all children are removed from the bus. It is also a good way to see if any children left any items on the bus like book bags, books, lunches, sports equipment, mobile phones, etc. It is also a good idea to conduct a visible sweep two times for good measure. If there is both a school bus driver and an attendant, then it is recommended by some school and child safety experts that each person (the school bus driver and the attendant) conduct the visible sweep of the bus.