A Stressful Ride

Imagine you are on an overcrowded bus that is not safe, but yet you have no other option for a ride. How are students supposed to do the responsible thing when it is not always available to them? This is a reality for many students across Knox County Schools.

Students throughout Knox County are packed into one bus when there are enough for two busloads to be taken. Some buses have too many on at one time when there should be either two buses or two loads. When a bus has too many passengers it causes there to be more than two in a seat and a few to be in the aisle between the seats. Pendergrass recalled an overcrowded bus she rode, “The bus I rode in middle school some people had to stand in the aisle or be cramped in a seat.” Pendergrass also stated, “If we were to have an accident that would not be safe.” Because of their not being enough room they had to do what isn’t the safest thing. This causes a major conflict to the community. Parents whose children rides a bus put their trust in the driver and other students to keep their child safe. If there is no more room then they are forced to do that they should not. Knox County’s Schools website states, “The aisle must remain a clear passageway from the front to the rear of the bus.” Also with more kids it can cause more distractions to the driver, which increases the chance of having an accident. These two factors put everyone who rides at risk of more danger.

There are bus rules and regulations that are in place to keep the bus ride safe, and in order to uphold this the amount of students on some buses needs to be reduced. By not having overcrowded buses Knox County will be able to show how they put student’s safety one of their top priorities.