It has been reported by UK Road Safety Ltd that since 1st January 2008 there have been about 270,000 road causalities in the UK alone amounting to a total cost of about 13,782,410,640 pounds. (UK Road Safety Ltd, 1) Thus, it is obvious that anybody on the wheel should be more cautious while driving. This is more applicable for school bus drivers.
The best possible element of a school bus driver is the fact of driving a school bus. This includes the vicinity of the younger generation that is a beneficial condition for any person. The freshness of the child makes a person more energized. This makes a school bus driver more energetic at work. This energy is reflected in the skill of the driver and the added responsibility of the children makes him drive more safely. This ultimately makes driving safer and the road safer. The total accumulation of traffic thus is influenced by the presence of the school bus. The other drivers of the road also become aware of the presence of a school bus on road and that consciousness makes them aware of the reason to drive safely.
On the same note, it can be stated that School bus drivers are burdened with extra precautionary measures as they are deemed to carry passengers who are mostly minor and the safety of the minors are of top priority. This extra pressure may lead to extra stress at work.
Driver’s burnout is due to stress. Thus, it is important to find out the reasons for stress like monotonous work schedules and work methods. Thus, it is important to try newer pastures in the present form of driving. Unfortunately, this is not possible and a driver has to live with it. Ultimately, it should be remembered that stress is an inevitable but complex companion of our working lives. Without challenges and pressures, work would lack sparkle, but we all can be overwhelmed by work-related stress, and experience its exhausting effects. Thus, it is a very difficult job for a school bus driver and the worst aspect of this job. (Brown, 79-80).
To make the situation worse, there are the presences of drivers on the road who possess little or no respect for traffic or road laws. These drivers take on the road with speed limits in mind. They disobey the general traffic rules and are often found driving under the influence of alcohol or other substances. Even if a driver is maintaining all other laws and statutory measures while driving, the number of mobile phone users while driving is quite high. There can be a lapse of concentration due to these facts and can easily result in accidents with fatal consequences. (Lamb, 227) These people should be restrained from using these means and a school bus driver must be aware of such intentional or unintentional threats on road for the safety of the students.
In conclusion, it would be relevant to make note that there is an added responsibility of driving the future generation safely to the destination and present a clean image of safe driving for the kids. A school bus driver can be a role model for the children on board and this would make the minors better and safer drivers in years to come and as a result, would make the future roads a better and safer place to drive.
Works cited
UK Road Safety Ltd; Road Safety – Everyone’s Business; Global Traffic Statistics: Driving – a Life Skill; UK Road Safety Ltd; 2008. Web.
Brown, Scheflin and Hammond; Memory, Trauma Treatment, And the Law; New York, NY: W. W. Norton; 1998.
Lamb, Davis; Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization; Wellington: National Book Trust; 2004.