Schoolbus drivers strike
Schoolbus drivers at four service centres are on strike Tuesday, keeping roughly 15,000 students away from their schools.
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bumper carz 09:29 on 2023-10-31 Permalink
Whereas those schoolbuses are usually “keeping kids off their bikes” by making the roads extremely dangerous at the exact times that kids might need to use them to bike to or from school. I have been side-swiped by these monsters many times in my lifetime. I think most of the drivers are ex-cons or soldiers who went awol because of mental distress.
Kate 13:47 on 2023-10-31 Permalink
I don’t know what to make of your slanders against schoolbus drivers, qatzelok.
As discussed on this blog previously, kids used to routinely go to a school close to home, which would tend to make it easy to cycle. That’s no longer true. Kids are often shuttled quite long distances now, distances that would be hazardous and arduous for kids, hard going in winter, and impossible for kids with any kind of physical disability.
In other words, there will be schoolbuses.
jeather 13:56 on 2023-10-31 Permalink
It’s a weird change from the attacks on parents who drive their kids in SUVs, something which is probably riskier for the kids.
Kevin 15:03 on 2023-10-31 Permalink
Schools have really, really changed this century.
Even in elementary school, my kids had classmates who lived 20 or 30 km away. It’s now normal for kids off-island to attend a high school in a central borough.
jeather 15:41 on 2023-10-31 Permalink
Kids in high school don’t take school buses, as a rule.
bumper carz 19:31 on 2023-10-31 Permalink
@jeather: “…parents who drive their kids in SUVs, something which is probably riskier for the kids.”
Right beside the school, yes, SUVs are more dangerous. But SUVs then jump onto highways and arterial roads – away from the hoods.
School buses lumber along dense residential streets – the exact streets that kids would need to bike on.
These mastodons are also 1950s-era vehicle design – dangerously wide boxes with lots of blindspots and a high front bumper that will drive a collision-victim under the vehicle.
Car companies love school buses because they eliminate the normal daily bike ride of children.
Ephraim 06:04 on 2023-11-01 Permalink
School bus drivers take a lot of abuse. From the parents, from the children and apparently now, from the public as well. It’s a damn tough job with weird hours and not great pay. They are entrusted with children of helicopter parents and kids who gang up on them. And they have to watch the kids cross the street as car drivers pass them with the flashing lights to protect the kids. It’s a damn tough job!
dhomas 09:31 on 2023-11-01 Permalink
@bumper carz: If you’re interested in actual statistics for school bus safety, instead of making general assumptions, the data is publicly available here:
https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/TRAN/Brief/BR10487380/br-external/FederationDesTransporteursParAutobus-10047135-e.pdf
Here you can see the accident reports for all vehicles:
https://saaq.gouv.qc.ca/blob/saaq/documents/publications/bilan-routier-2022.pdf
Or in greater detail here:
https://saaq.gouv.qc.ca/blob/saaq/documents/publications/bilan-routier-2022-annexes.pdf
We can see that about 1% of all school buses are involved in some form of accident yearly, on average.
The SAAQ doesn’t separate cars from SUVs in their statistics, unfortunately. But we can see that combined, about 0.43% of cars/SUVs are involved in accidents, if my calculations are correct.
Deaths involving school buses, on the other hand, are quite rare. About 0.028% deaths (only 3 deaths). Cars/SUVs were responsible for 0.0079% (392 deaths).
Critical injuries: 0.018% for school buses vs 0.14% for Cars/SUVs.
Anywho, there’s lots of data here, for anyone who is interested.
dhomas 09:32 on 2023-11-01 Permalink
@jeather: some high schools have school buses. Ex:
https://cssmv.gouv.qc.ca/secondaire/transport-scolaire/
Kate 11:00 on 2023-11-01 Permalink
Thanks for all the research, dhomas.
jeather 13:39 on 2023-11-01 Permalink
Sorry, kids in Montreal — not those going to school on off-island suburbs — tend not to take school buses. There are some exceptions, but the EMSB, for instance, doesn’t even show it as an option.
Ian 19:50 on 2023-11-02 Permalink
Welcome to today’s episode, in which it becomes painfully obvious that qtzi does not have kids.
@jeather the Hassidic schools have buses. Lots of ’em, several times a day, 6 days a week. The kids don’t get summer break, either.