Dad's video of school bus driver dropping kids off in ditch prompts change

A Manitoba father has removed his childrenfrom their school bus after he caught bus driversleaving almost a dozen kids in a ditch to cross the street on their own last week instead of crossing in front of the bus with the safety arm down.

"At the beginning of the school daywhen I let my kids get on the bus, I'm putting my kids in their hands and I'm trusting that they are going to be safe," said Jason Philion.

Philion lives in Garson Manitoba. His two youngest children, who are five and 11 years old, go to school in the neighbouring town of Tyndall and take a school bus to and from school.

Philion sawabout 12 kids get off the bus last Wednesday not far from his home and stand just off the edge of the gravel road in the ditch and wait. He said he waved for his five-year-old sonZander to cross the road but the kids continued to wait for the bus driver to drive away. Then the children scattered across the road to head to their homes.

Dad's video of school bus driver dropping kids off in ditch prompts change

8 years ago

Duration 2:42

A Manitoba father has removed his children from their school bus after he caught bus drivers leaving almost a dozen kids in a ditch to cross the street on their own last week instead of crossing in front of the bus with the safety arm down.

"They all huddle there [in the ditch] and then he drives away, and I'm like, that's not safe," said Philion.

Philion then waved at the bus driver to stop so he could ask him why he did that.

"I asked him 'Why don't you let them cross?' His exact words were: 'You're not the one driving the bus,'" said Philion,adding thedriver closed the door and drove away.

Philion asked his kids why they didn't cross in front of the bus when the bus was stopped and they told him that the bus driver instructs them to wait until he drives away.

Hecalled the school and the school division to complain about the driver's behaviour.

Instead, 90 minutes later, RCMP showed up at his house looking into allegations that he was harassing and threatening the bus driver, Philion said, denying any harassment.

AnRCMPspokesperson confirmedofficers went to Philion's homebut there is no ongoing investigation and no charges were laid.

The Sunrise School Division won't comment on why police were sent to Philion's home.

Bus drivers supposed to wait for students to cross

Philion is right about how school bus drivers should drop off students. The Manitoba School Bus Driver's Handbook states:

"In order to achieve maximum safety, the driver must supervise the crossing and maintain control at all times. Upon exiting the bus, students should walk along the edge of the road until they are at least threemetres or10 feet in front of the bus, beyond the extended crossing arm."

"Students should then proceed to the left front side of the bus, stopand look both ways to ensure that traffic has stopped and that it is safe to cross the roadway. Upon receiving the signal from the bus driver that it is safe, students should check traffic again and proceed across the roadway."

Kids wait on roadside as bus driver leaves

8 years ago

Duration 1:04

Jason Philion captured video of the improper drop off by the school bus.

On Thursday, Philion drove his kids to and from school.He later decided to take video of the bus on his cell phone to see if the driver would repeat the same procedure. He saidthat afternoon it was a different driver, but the second driver did the same thing.

The video shows 10 children exiting the bus and waiting at the side of the road near the stop sign of a four-way stop intersection. The children wait on the slope into the ditch as the driver pulls away.

The children then run out into the intersection, in front of a white pick-up truck that was stopped behind the school bus.

Philion saidhe again contacted the school division about the incident and made them aware of the video but he saidhis concerns went unanswered.

CBC visited Philion's home on Monday and caught the same drop-off procedure on camera.

'What is all that safety stuff on the bus for?'

The school division believed the drop-off being done near Philion's home was safe, saidElise Downey, secretary-treasurer with the Sunrise School Division.

"They are trained in the legislation, that they are supposed to cross kids to the other side of the street. In this particular situation, the driver trainer and the driver, felt it was safer to be able to count the kids on the right hand side of the bus," said Downey."That is not how we are proceeding forward."

She said the substitute driver that drove on Thursday and Monday waslikely following the notes left by the regular driver.

Downey said the drivers involved were not aware that making the children wait near the side of the road was unsafe until the division contacted the province's Pupil Transportation Unit (PTU), after CBC contacted the divisionfor comment.

"The bus was not following proper procedure," said Downey.

Downey saidthe issue was addressed on Tuesday afternoon and a memo was sent to parents of students on the bus in question. She said a notice would also be sent to drivers throughout the division to remind them to follow proper procedures.

"It's something that the division has to review, and remind on a constant basis to all of our bus drivers, that regulations need to be followed," said Downey.

Downey said the driverand their trainermade the decision to have the children wait until the bus drove away because they felt it was safer due to the location of the stop.

But Philion saidhis oldest child rides another bus that comes from the high school in Beausejour. That bus always waits and allows the high school-aged kids to cross in front of the bus while the stop sign on the side of the bus is activated and the yellow arm at the front of the bus is extended, he said.

He saidif the older kids' bus can follow the safety procedure, the bus carrying the younger kids should as well.

"What is all that safety stuff on the bus for?" said Philion.

"If [not waiting for the kids to cross] is acceptable to you as a driver, you shouldn't be driving [a school bus]," said Philion.

Philion is happy the procedure will be changed but questions how many other drivers may not be following safety protocols.

The province's PTU will be visiting the Sunrise School Division to observe and offer assistance.