As school buses begin rolling this school year, drivers have some new technology to help them.
According to Steve Roekle, President of Brandt Buses, Inc., there have been major improvements, some of which they’ve incorporated in their fleet. “We purchase a couple of buses every year and so about 3-years ago, Bendix Fusion Technology became available. It’s through Thomas Buses and is the same thing you have in your vehicle,” he explained. “It has sensors on the buses, so if you deviate from your lane it will shake and stop you. In addition, say if something happens to the driver and he’s coming up on someone at 55mph, it will stop the bus.”
Roekle also pointed out what he termed “some wonderful improvements are coming for student safety” in the next couple of years. “I was at a seminar at the Wisconsin School Bus Association this summer and some of the additional sensors around the school bus to protect the students getting on and off have drastically improved,” Roekle said. “It’s not available yet on most school buses but they are demonstrating it.”
Roekle says they currently have a fleet of 38-schoolbuses at Brandt. He added student safety is their number one priority.
