Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
John Kellmayer
Committee Member
Marcia O’Brien
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
accident awareness training, accident prevention, background screening, bus accidents, bus drivers, bus routes, buses, congested highways, control group, defensive driving, driver education, driver performance, driver safety awareness, driver training, driving records, employment screening, evaluation model, intervention plan, monthly safety meetings, on-the-road monitoring, preemployment screening, preventable accidents, quasi experimental design, rural areas, safety training, school bus defensive driving, school transportation, SCESC, Somerset County Educational Services Commission, student safety, suburban streets, training effectiveness, transportation safety, weather conditions, winding roads
Abstract
This applied dissertation describes an accident prevention training program for school bus drivers who transport students for the Somerset County Educational Services Commission (SCESC) on a countywide basis. Students were transported on bus routes that spanned mountainous rural areas, winding suburban streets, and high-speed congested highways in all weather conditions. It was the goal of this applied dissertation to identify and implement a program that would reduce bus accidents and improve student safety.
Planned solution strategies included (a) a customized instructional course on school bus defensive driving taught to a cohort of bus drivers by the SCESC’s certified school bus defensive driving instructor, (b) increased attendance and improved monthly bus driver safety meetings to supplement and reinforce the defensive driving training, (c) creation of a system of on-the-road monitoring of driver performance, and (d) utilization of a preemployment background screening protocol (ADP Secure Hire) to evaluate driving records prior to employment.
The intervention plan involved a quasi experimental design that confirmed the writer’s hypothesis that the introduction of a School Bus Defensive Driving Course would improve driver performance through specialized accident awareness training and thereby reduce the number of preventable accidents. The intervention reduced the treatment group’s preventable accidents by 33% compared to the control group. Driver monthly safety meeting attendance was increased by 26.8% to an average 80.5% rate. The evaluation model quantitatively confirmed improved driver safety awareness and the effectiveness of the training on reducing bus accidents.