DISPATCH
Imagine Schools at West Melbourne principal Brian Degonzague believes it was an electrical fire . " It was spontaneous ," principal said . " It looked like something that could happen to any vehicle .'' The school said the fire damaged the camera on the bus , destroying any video surveillance . '' Ms . Janet is a very humble person ," Degonzague said . " When I spoke to her about it , she said , ' Brian , I did what I did because I love my kids .' She doesn ' t want the spotlight on her , but what she did was pretty incredible .'' The school says the driver Janet didn ' t even take a day off . She was right back to work on Wednesday , driving a new bus .
Thomas Built Buses announces shift expansion at North Carolina plant
North Carolina school bus manufacturer Thomas Built Buses ( TBB ) announced the start of an additional shift at its Saf-T-Liner C2 Plant in High Point , with plans to hire an additional 280 employees to the company ’ s manufacturing operations in the area . Thomas Built Buses is seeking to fill multiple manufacturing positions , including assembly technicians , materials technicians , and machine operators . Interested parties should apply via the Thomas Built Buses website , and the careers page contains a current list of specific jobs and qualifications . All new , additional shift employees will work exclusively on both the Saf-T-Liner C2 school bus and Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school bus . “ We have robust demand for our entire portfolio of our popular Type C offerings , and we are excited to expand our manufacturing capacity , in part , to support our ramp up of electric school bus production ,” said Kevin Bangston , president and CEO of TBB . “ We take great pride in North Carolina and our home of the High Point community , where we have been for more than 100 years , and are honored to offer additional employment opportunities in the area .” Equipped with the same vehicle quality , durability , performance , safety and comfort as the popular Saf-T-Liner C2 , the all-electric Saf- T-Liner C2 Jouley from TBB launched in 2017 . With 226 kWh of total energy capacity , Jouley enables an operating range of up to 138 miles on a single charge , meeting the daily operational demands of almost all school bus routes .
Traffic fatalities reached a 16-year high in 2021
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA ) released its early estimate of traffic fatalities for 2021 . NHTSA projects an estimated 42,915 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes last year , a 10.5 percent increase from the 38,824 fatalities in 2020 . The projection is the highest number of fatalities since 2005 and the largest annual percentage increase in the agency ’ s Fatality Analysis Reporting System ’ s history . Behind each of these numbers is a life tragically lost , and a family left behind . All 10 NHTSA regions posted increases in road deaths . Only six states managed to lower their road death tally ; the other 44 states , plus Washington , D . C ., and Puerto Rico , posted jumps over 2020 . Deaths from multi-vehicle crashes and crashes on urban roads were both up 16 percent , deaths in daytime crashes , among seniors over 65 , involving pedestrians , and involving at least one large truck were all up more than 10 percent . Several programs included in the Biden Administration ’ s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are being rolled out to improve road safety . The Safe Streets and Roads for All program plans to spend $ 5 billion over five years on local efforts to reduce road crashes and fatalities , as announced by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg . The initiatives fall under NHSTA ' s Safe System Approach , " a datadriven , holistic , and equitable method to roadway safety that fully integrates the needs of all users , anticipates the possibility of errors by drivers and other road users , and manages crash impact forces to levels tolerated by the human body . The Safe System Approach includes five elements : safe road users , safe vehicles , safe speeds , safe roads and post-crash care ."
NAPT heads to Nashville this fall
This past March , in Houston , Texas , NAPT ® kicked off The Road Show , a series of issue-focused events , and saw great success ! Event attendees left with a renewed sense of community , energy , and professional purpose !
10 | SCHOOL-BUSRIDE . COM | JUNE 2022