Neuqua Valley’s bus company, Laidlaw, sends out 60,000 buses everyday that hold 4,000,000 students. Laidlaw promises to ensure safe bus transportation to all students and the company works hard to make certain that their drivers are trained and that the students are equipped with bus safety knowledge.
Recently there has been speculation if Laidlaw has been sticking true to its motto, “If you can’t do it safely, don’t do it.” Various buses en route to Neuqua are overcrowded, and students have been in unsafe positions. The congestion on the bus has caused students to have to sit three to a seat including backpacks, instruments and books. The students barely fit on the seat, and had to balance their bodies on the limited space they had, or sit on top of another person to stay on the seat. On a recent occasion, two students found it impossible to find room on the bus and were thus forced to stand. It is illegal for students to be standing on a bus while it is in motion; however; the bus driver allowed these students to stand despite the obvious safety hazards. It is also illegal to be sitting on the floor of a bus while it is moving, another event which has also happened on Laidlaw buses.
After experiencing these events on the bus, many students called the Naperville Laidlaw Bus Company to complain. “At least five people called and complained from the bus, even my mom and dad called, but the bus company just hung up on us,” says Sophomore Grace Biske, who experienced some of unsafe conditions on the bus. “With three children sitting to a seat, and children sitting on the floor, what would happen if there was an accident, or the children were forced to evacuate the bus? It is unsafe and should not 
be allowed,” adds Norma Villanueva, parent of a Neuqua student who went through the bus problems. The drivers attempted to notify Laidlaw, and ask for an additional bus, but Laidlaw kept saying that the number of students on the bus was legal, and therefore, an additional bus was not necessary. “According to federal safety laws, most school buses are designed to hold three students per seat,” said the Naperville Laidlaw manager, when asked about safety hazards on the bus. “The entire bus, including the seats, is designed to absorb any impact from an accident.” In fact, research from the National Highway Safety Administration says that a school bus is 44 times safer than riding with a fellow student, thirteen times safer then walking or riding a bus, and eight times safer than riding in the family car.
No action was taken until the Dean, Marchel Rogers, was informed about the situation. The following week, an additional bus was added to one of the bus routes that had severe overcrowding issues. Sophomore Kylie Foley says, “I definitely feel more comfortable and safe now that there is another bus. There’s enough room for people to have their own seats, or to have two people to a seat.”
By Anna Miller, Echo staff writer
Photos by Lucas Giolas, Echo photo editor
