We are a group of school bus drivers working to improve the SAFETY of both riding on, and the driving of a school bus.

We are from Winsted, Connecticut and our group have from one to thirty years experience driving school buses.

One of our drivers was chosen Connecticut School Bus Driver of the Year. Among her many remarkable qualities, is the fact that she has 29 years of accident free driving. She was nominated by her terminal manager and her fellow drivers. There are over 4,500 school bus drivers in Connecticut and to be so chosen is indeed an honor, and we are very proud of her.

Our steering committee has the following composition:
*A mother of one, with nineteen years of accident free school bus driving.
*A mother of four with twenty five years of accident free school bus driving.
*A mothter of two with sixteen years of accident free school bus driving
*A father of three with fourteen years of safe driving.
As you can tell from this, we are not a group of people blowing smoke.
The steering committee alone has over 74 years of experience driving school buses.
Most of those years have come from driving out of the same terminal. The terminal has not changed in size much during the past twenty years, but it has gone from being owned and operated by a local caring family, to a large state company, to a larger national company to the current company which is international in scope and the largest school bus company in the United States. Their headquarters are in Canada, so you can imagine the type of contact we have with top management.

The overriding reason for forming our group was one of frustration at each turn in our efforts to eliminate overcrowding on school buses. Trying to get a straight forward answer has proven to be an almost impossible task. Each party we have had contact with, the D.M.V.,bus companies and boards of education, when quizzed on overcrowding just pass the buck or give replies that are so vague as to be meaningless.
The one point that has come through loud and clear is their concern with budgets. The bus companies trying to cut their costs so they can be in a better position to bid on contracts, and to appear in the best dollar position to their stock holders.
The b/o/e feeling their monies are better spent on things other than safe transportation, and the DMV not wishing to become involved in the controversy. We can't help concluding that the companies and boards are all for safety, until it affects their budget, then safety gets put on the back burner.
If we are wrong we will be glad to admit our error, but as of this date no one has proven us to be incorrect.

We know it is a costly undertaking to provide an adequate number of buses to effectively elimate overcrowding. We also know that we, the school bus drivers, aren't going to be the ones to put a price tag on the safety of the children we transport.

This is a problem that has begged for a solution long enough. The problem only grows worse and will not disappear just because the powers to be choose to ignore it.