Has The School Bus Really Been Checked for Sleeping Children?
Driving around Staten Island today, I was behind a yellow school bus. Since it was around 1:00 p.m., the bus was empty as most students were still in school. What I noticed was the small sign that was hung outward on the back window, alerting drivers that the bus had been checked for sleeping children. The sign law was enacted after numerous New York City school children, some as young as 2-years of age, were left asleep and alone on a school bus after the driver and matron failed to properly check the bus at the end of the day. Checking the bus for sleeping children seems so logical that you would hardly think a sign would be necessary, but it is.
The next problem that we face is bus drivers and matrons leaving the sign on the back of the bus ALL OF THE TIME. I know that I have driven behind a school bus fully occupied by children but having the sign that says its was checked for sleeping children. The purpose of the sign is to force the bus driver or matron to walk to the back of the bus to put the sign on, almost forcing them to look through each row for sleeping children. Having the sign permanently affixed defeats the entire purpose and makes for forgetting a sleeping child possible again.
If you are riding behind a bus that clearly has children inside and the "checked for children" sign is up, call the bus operating company and report what you have seen. Its the only way to make sure that the sign requirement is working, without the unfortunate happening of a child left on board. Its about 34 degrees in Staten Island today - would you want your child left on a cold bus?
