School bus tragedy at East High reinforces need for safety first

By all accounts, 14-year-old Faith Ann McCullough-Wooster lived her young life to its fullest potential as an artistically gifted East High School freshman. Friends say the “sweet and dreamy” teen could roll out a rhythmic rap song in a flash. The writer, musician and artist also cared passionately about protecting the purity of the environment around her.

Sadly, her full artistic and human potential was snuffed out far too soon last Wednesday when she was struck and killed by a school bus leaving the high school. In a tragic accident, Faith fell into the path of the bus after rolling down a hill, several witnesses said.

Today, as her family members, friends, teachers and others gather at Lane Family Funeral Home in Boardman to honor and memorialize Faith’s short but bountiful life, we add our voice to those offering sympathies and condolences.

We also add our voice to those urging that her loss serve as a poignant motivator for all parents, all motorists and all school leaders in Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley to double down on the importance of safety in and near moving school buses.

As Colleen Murphy, director of transportation for Austintown schools, put it: “What happened was horrific. Parents need to consider this case — I think it was a wake-up call for all of Northeast Ohio.”

PROTOCOLS IN PLACE

Fortunately, a survey of school districts in the region reveals that most already have formal safety protocols in place that are rigidly drilled into the minds of elementary school students.

Among them is the importance of staying clear of the “danger zone.” As Winnie Timpson, chief of transportation for Youngstown schools, explains, that’s the area 10 feet around the bus, “to the front, back and around the sides.”

In the aftermath of the East High tragedy, school officials may also look to expand and reinforce such safety protocols to students in upper grades. An added emphasis on pedestrian safety could not hurt as well.

After all, most fatalities involving school buses occur outside the bus. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, from 2003 to 2012, 174 school-age U.S. children died in transportation-related accidents. Of that number, 55 were occupants of school buses and 119 — like Faith — were outside the bus.

Of course, reinforcement of safety must extend beyond the confines of school bus drivers and their precious cargo. All motor-vehicle drivers share responsibility to stay alert to follow the proper protocols and laws when their paths cross those of school buses.

Such driving etiquette too often is lacking. A study by the Maryland Education Department , for example, revealed about 900,000 moving violations near school buses in a single school year. The most common violations were failure to stop for buses loading or unloading. In Ohio, we suspect the rate is similar among those motorists in too much of a hurry to wait the average 30 seconds it takes for students to enter or exit. Beefing up enforcement of the laws and mounting cameras on buses to catch scofflaws more easily are two options worthy of consideration.

All of which is not to say that parents should fear the yellow bus or that officials should adopt draconian measures. One such measure, House Bill 578 sponsored by state Rep. Tom Letson of Warren, would require all new Ohio school buses to install seat belts and mandate their use. That costly measure, however, gets no support from the highway-safety administration.

Truth to tell, school buses are 20 times safer than parents driving their children to school, studies have concluded. They’re also much safer for children than walking.

Yet even among the safest of circumstances, accidents can and do happen. That’s why reinforcement of and strict adherence to safety protocols can go a long way toward lessening the potential for tragedies such as the one last week that shattered the lives of so many near and dear to “sweet and dreamy” Faith Ann .