What’s going on back there?

The summer sun was setting as the two bus convoy headed west in Kansas on old US 40. Between them, the old Brill IC41's were carrying 75 high school kids, as we looked for a safe place to pull over and make “the switch”.

Experience had taught us that teenagers bubble over with hormones, and the only sure way to control the situation during nighttime was by putting all the girls on one bus, and the boys on the other. This was the days of open windows (AC was a luxury we couldn't afford) and bubbling is an understatement, so we made sure that we didn't pass each other... heaven knew what would transpire if the coaches got too close.

This was in the days before lawyers swarmed like locusts, but even then we knew that we were responsible for virtually everything that happened in our buses.

Recently a NY charter driver was arrested for “child endangerment” after he pulled into a rest area to determine the source of a loud “bang”. When police approached the stopped vehicle they found several of his passengers drunk, and according to news reports “When troopers arrived they saw teenagers, many obviously intoxicated, and at least 100 beer cans and 'several gallons' of opened and empty bottles of whiskey and rum”.

"It's really a shame that this is happening," the charter company's owner is reported to have said "He's been a good driver. He did the right thing." He is also quoted as saying “These kids sneak stuff in and how are you to know?, It's really the parents' responsibility at this point."

While I don't know the all specifics of this case, if the owner was quoted accurately, he's wrong.

The driver may be a fine fellow, but he's not doing his whole job if all this was taking place on the coach, without his having a clue.

As for it being the parents responsibility... they weren't there. And gee whiz...maybe the kids fibbed when asked if there were chaperones.

Best guess is that an alert litigator is going to help him understand that both his driver and his company are responsible for anything they could have reasonably foreseen.

Years ago a lady from Geneseo, NY wrote a letter to the editor. In stilted language that seemed laughable at the time, she referred to “Bus Captains” and insisted we should treat drivers as captains because they had similar responsibilities, and often operated in a hostile environment.

She was right (and I was wrong to laugh). Both the coach company and the driver are responsible for what's going on in the back of the bus.

One charter operator says that his company often turns down charters when they don't feel there will be adequate supervision or discipline. Frequently parents of party hungry teenagers castigate him for “forgetting what it was like when he was young”.

He hasn't... which is why he demands chaperones, and has drivers check for contraband as passengers board.

One GBB (Great Big Busline) occasionally has difficulty getting curbside pickup locations approved, because communities think some of their passengers import controlled substances.

A different GBB had an unfortunate decapitation aboard a coach (as if there could be a “fortunate” one). In each case the companies are now aware of that they have a measure of responsibility for everything that happens aboard their buses, and endeavor to train drivers accordingly.

If a coach's driver is not in charge... then who is? Drivers need to be given the authority to enforce discipline on their buses, and backed up when they exercise it. Sometimes there's a delicate balance between enforcing rules and retaining customers, but in the end the driver, and ultimately the company, are responsible for anything that they can reasonably anticipate. Different types of groups require different approaches, and some training and discussion might be in order.

My friend Jim was driving a girls lacrosse team in a school bus when he noticed trucks passing, then slowing down and passing again.

It seems that some of the young ladies were “mooning” the truckers. My pal put a stop to it, and chastised himself for not checking his mirrors more often.

A couple of weeks later... same driver, same team, he again noticed that everyone that passed him was smiling. A belated check of the mirror revealed that this time the girls had their lacrosse sticks out the windows, and were “rowing” in unison, like a Viking Longboat. An improvement, but dangerous if the bus passed close to anything.

While not so good at checking his mirrors, Jim at least realized that, as the driver, like a ship's captain, he was ultimately responsible for the safety and behavior of his passengers.