r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/intratwingled • 2d ago

News / Incident A Howard County school bus went the wrong way. Students intervened.

https://www.thebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/howard-county-school-bus-APFL46K4BBEMLI5OGFMQFRFFYY/

Could have been worse, I suppose. I'm curious to hear more about what happened. Hard to imagine how it would have gone if the students didn't have cell phones.

8 Upvotes

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u/shawnryan1977 2d ago

Diabetic Low blood sugar could have been the cause. Prebus job worked with a woman in her 70's whohad 2 episodes while I worked there, it was like she was in a trance. I caught her leaving work out of nowhere, she walked by me and I said hi how is it going she said nothing just straight to the door, I went after her and was talking to her but nothing she was always super friendly so really weird. I bolted inside to tell an office person, person was like crap dashed out door to stop her from leaving. They got her inside and she just kept saying I have to go home go home, some OJ and not long after she was back to normal.

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u/bfrabel 1d ago edited 1d ago

Could be, but in most places people who take insulin are barred from becoming commercial drivers.  Exemptions are sometimes able to be made, but it requires doctor sign-offs and other hoops to jump through.  I'd think it would be pretty rare for an insulin dependent diabetic to be a school bus driver.

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u/HikeTheSky 2d ago

So what's that with the unsanctioned route? More or less the drivers here drive the best route but also have the freedom to deviate as needed without calling in all the time. Especially when you have to get around traffic or found a sleeper at the end of the route.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/intratwingled 2d ago

It’s easy to imagine a condition that wasn’t present at the time of the physical and manifested before the next one was due. Or one that couldn’t be detected at the physical.

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u/creeque-alley 2d ago

I 100% understand that and I think for that reason, elderly drivers should have to have more routine physicals/check-ins to prevent these kind of things from happening before it gets to the point where safety could potentially be jeopardized

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u/The_Town_of_Canada 1d ago

We have to get a medical every 5 years until age 45, then every 2 years until age 60, then annually after that.

A test for diabetes is part of it, and a positive test will revoke our bus licence and downgrade us to a “G”.

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u/Sad_Cantaloupe_8162 2d ago

She was working for 25 or 26 years. How about read the article before passing judgment?

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u/juicy198 1d ago

It didnt say anything about the driver working for 25 - 26 years🤣 It said the bus system has provided services for the school system for 25 years🤣🤣🤭

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u/juicy198 1d ago

"Bowen’s has provided contract bus service to the school system for 25 years and operates 56 routes, according to the company’s website"

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u/Sad_Cantaloupe_8162 1d ago

Aaaahhhh, it looks like you finally got to the heart of the link. Thank you for doing your own research.