A national safety audit of Chinook's Edge School Division's transportation program has found that the department is doing very well. The Aug. 21 audit was conducted pursuant to the provincial Commercial Vehicles Act.The auditor found that CESD scored 2.96 per cent (best possible score is zero per cent), while the provincial average usually runs about 15 per cent, said Bruce Wagner, transportation director for CESD“This is where they come in and they really turn your operation upside down looking for compliance with the Traffic Safety Act, in terms of your paperwork for the maintenance schedules, driver files, etc.,” said Wagner.The results of the audit are unofficial at this point, as the division is still waiting for the detailed audit results to come back, he said.“What that really means is that when they come and they look at the paperwork that we have to have drivers complete, it's done, and it is also their evidence that things are being done properly,” he said.That news comes as about 100 bus drivers working for Chinook's Edge School Division gathered at the Olds bus barn last week to prepare for the upcoming school year, with gathering focusing on mitigating risk.“That's our everyday responsibility out there, to be proactive drivers, to be aware of the driving conditions and the factors that could compromise safety,” Wagner said.Following a fatal school bus-vehicle crash near Rimbey in April 2008 that took the life of a female Chinook's Edge student, all division drivers are mandated to conduct daily pre-trip inspections of their buses. If problems are found with the vehicles, they are fixed, or the buses are taken off the road until mechanics can look into the problems.“That eliminates all the possibilities of breakdowns as much as is feasible,” he said.One of the most important parts of the safety system is the flashing red lights and the stop signs that swing out when a child is near and outside the bus.Bus drivers must also be prepared to make decisions around inclement weather, deciding whether or not a bus should travel down a road if snow has been drifting, for example.Wagner said it's important for drivers to make that decision in advance, rather than after the bus has become stuck.Another issue that was covered at last week's drivers' meeting was making sure that relief drivers are briefed on a particular route so that in the event they have to fill in, they are prepared for potentially tricky spots on the route and so they can concentrate on how to navigate through them.“Particularly in the spring, people think a bus can go anywhere. Think of it more like a big yellow, beached whale. They lose traction very easily, so often if a bus has to stop on just a bit of an incline, and there's some freezing and thawing going on, that bus sometimes can't get traction again. Drivers have to point that out to spare drivers where there's going to be those issues,” he said.Wagner said all of CESD's drivers go through a lot of training, going that extra step beyond the minimum Class 2 requirement. Every driver goes through a defensive driver program and the safety endorsement refresher course every three years.There are 116 buses owned by CESD, operating on 85 routes. There are another 40-plus routes that contractors are responsible for.The 100 drivers working in the division transport about 5,000 students every school day throughout the school year.
