MAPT
Monthly Meeting
December18, 2015
Maine Motor Transport
Board Members Present
Lennie Goff – President KittyRoberts- At Large
Richard Joseph-Treasurer Cindy Button –DATTCO
Cindy Messier- Driver RepDottie Muchmore-President Elect
Brenda Cravens-Secretary
Others Present
Ryan Sharkey -Zonar Selina St Amand-RSU 57
Tim Dube-MSAD 60Kevin McAvoy-RSU 20
Raymond Shute-RSU 3Marc Hopkins-W.C. Cressey
Dave Fontaine-RSU 17Harvey Boatman
Katie Spear-RSU 2Ronald Deegan-MSAD 44
Ken Robbins-RSU 10Scott Holmes-RSU 10
Wayne St Pierre-RSU 39Matt Kearns-RSU 21
Jeanne Anderson-SacoRodney Waugh-O’Connor Bus
Rich Vigue-AOS 92George Bridges-RSU 40
Julie Waters-MSAD 28Kevin Mallory-Retired
Scott Washburn-MSAD 49Jeanne Murphy-AOS 43
Jenny Chase-RowellsDavid Leavitt-MSAD 54
Pat Hinkley-MDOELisa Gadway-So Portland
Introductions around the room were in order as there were many new faces.
Ryan Sharkey gave an informative presentation regarding the Zonar family of products including the newest, most up to date technology that can be utilized by districts to save money.
10:00-10:30am
Business Meeting
Presidents Report:
There was no November meeting. Lennie gave a brief report to the board on the NAPT and NASDPT Conferences held in Richmond VA. Lennie shared that there was a good deal of information learned, with the most controversial being the Seat Belt announcement made by Director Rosekind from NHTSA .
Secretaries Report: The October report was given and a motion to accept as read was made by
Wayne St Pierre and seconded by Cindy Messier. The motion passed.
Treasurer’s Report
Richard stated that all bills from last year were paid. There are eight districts who have not paid their membership and a second invoice will be sent. A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report as given was made by Wayne St Pierre and seconded by Kitty Roberts. The motion passed.
Committee Reports:
Conference
Brenda reported that the committee has been meeting regularly and feels that we are ahead of schedule on planning. The Committee has contracted with many great speakers for the Annual and the schedule is almost fully fleshed out.
The Regional conferences are scheduled and speakers and travel team have been booked.
Legislative Committee
No report
Old Business
The question of repairs for Buster will be placed on the January agenda.
Declarations from Audience.
David Leavitt asked Pat Hinkley about Chapter 81. She stated that it is being
re-written this year and the committee will be awaiting the release of the new Standards Book. Pat will notify people of the public hearing, as it will be the only time for testimony to be given.
Once things begin the clock is running. There is clear procedure to be used with the writing of Chapter 81 and that will follow State procedures.
Pat hopes to have it finished by the end of summer 2017.
Scott Washburn asked about the procedure for requesting a grant from MAPT for him to be able to attend the NAPT conference to work on his certification classes.
We will put this on the agenda for the January meeting and give everyone time to check policy and for Scott t to provide his request in the form of a letter.
Matt Kearns, who takes care of our website was asked if he could post the minutes from the monthly meetings as well as the treasurers report on the new website. Dottie thanked Matt again for his work on the site.
Round Table Discussion:
Pat Hinkley – Seat Belts on School Buses
Pat asked for attendees to fill out a 3 question survey.
Most Directors do not order buses with seat belts because it is not required
#1 benefit is safety
Concerns were different.
The most common were:
Cost, time, evacuation, maintenance, liability for driver, retrofit or new purchase only, how to manage, which bus first, increase in time to load and unload, extrication if an accident, fire, water, time management and enforcement,
Discussion: when you think of your district what is # 1question.
Drivers are required to stay in seat while loading.
How would that be dealt with to get students buckled?
As a driver, we practice evacuations, if the driver is unconscious who will cut belts?
Who is responsible to make them wear the seat belts.
If it becomes a Federal requirement what is the timing for Maine?
How many students are killed or injured in Maine on buses?
2005 killed while getting off bus.
No students “in “ bus.
Impact or intrusion is the likely cause not anything that would be helped by seat belts.
One comment from the floor was that in business you don’t make rule by exception to the rule.
What about Retrofitting?
Most regular bus seats are not built to accommodate three point seat belts
How do you decide which route to put the new bus on with seat belts.
Parents will want all the buses with belts.
Seat belt ready buses purchased means lap belt only.
Will DOE pay for incremental additional cost of lap shoulder buses in all new buses?
Will DOE include integrated seats and belts in specs for purchasing ?
Will this impact capacity in buses (for manufacturers)
Cindy Button stated that IC would not change
Mark Hopkins stated that Freightliner would not be affected but uncomfortable
Rodney Waugh stated that Bluebird thinks not
Seating charts would be necessary to fit all students in safely.
If the entire body does not fit in the seat you can only put two students, thus lowering capacity.
It is felt by some that with practice students will be all right, when they get in the habit of using them.
Dottie would look at student management reports and safety issues to pick which bus route to put the seat belt bus on. She is concerned about fire and water.
Seat belts in buses should show an improvement in student behavior.
Do you foresee the legislative entities taking this up in Maine (Pat didn’t have an answer for that at this time)
This is a national discussion first.
NHTSA has come out with a plan to research.
If this becomes “best practice”, will it become a litigation nightmare?
Everyone agrees that buses are not built the same as cars and are built with student safety in mind.
What are maintenance standards going to look like with the retractor mechanisms?
Can DOE start now and educate the public about the safety of buses with compartmentalization.
Cindy Button asked if MAPT should prepare information with video from the bus burn to see how quickly a bus burns which could give a better idea of how long it takes to get students out.
Do we have any information from other states that require belts?
NHTSA will be researching this and provide a report.
Scott Washburn is concerned about fire and will local fire departments be able to get students out.
If bus flips over and fire starts, they don’t know what to do.
Lennie suggested that folks should contact their local fire Department or EMA to donate a bus to train with.
Another comment was how to deal with seat belts and time management with drop offs, bus runs may take longer.
Lennie felt that we, as an organization should be focusing on how we can make it work and be proactive not reactive. MAPT should be leading the State with this topic. We should plant the seed and nurture it as time is in our favor at this point.
Will the belts release under load? The guidelines and federal laws for this are strict. Seat Belts must release under load.
A comment was made about driver shortages. Are current drivers going to be willing to take responsibility and how will these affect new hires?
Jenny Chase doesn’t think it has to happen. Politicians decide and they are not in our seats. Toxic fumes in a bus fire will kill before the fire. Older kids can unbuckle but little ones may not be able to.
Buses are built for safety with steel bumpers and frame, fuel tanks are caged, and body will withstand a lot.
What will the maintenance standards be for the belts? Will one seat belt out of service put the entire bus out of service?
Matt Kearns feels we should take a position before making any Public Service Announcements.
Pat Hinkley stated that when something big happens society wants to react immediately, Maine looked at all information when Sandy Hook happened before making any changes. Every one needs to learn and get as much information as possible about what people are concerned about before making any changes.
Dave Leavitt thinks it is unfair for MAPT or DOE to take a position. We should be educating the public.
Wayne St Pierre asked if NHTSA said why they changed their stand?
Data has been available for a long time about safety and belts. New leadership is what has changed. Leadership elected to say “should” because of cost issue.
In States that don’t have mandatory use law ,use is the same as states that have mandatory use law.
Some information from states already using seat belts:
Students three and older know how to get out of seat belts. Training is key. Belts are adjustable and fit all ages.
Lots of money has been spent on education for compliance: 90% compliant with younger children and 80 % with older.
Stability control bus works better than seat belts in Rodney Waughs opinion. Bendex would be happy to come to Maine and demonstrate. Stability control cost is a fraction of the price of seat belts.
Summary
Statistics show that school buses are the safest way to get to and from school. The yellow bus is known for safety. 80% of Maine students’ ride the bus. There are 3000 buses in Maine, 2200 drivers and 140,000 children transported each year.
The State establishes policies and writes rules that oversee safety. Maine collaborates with other States and is well represented on the National level.
An announcement by Director Rosekind from NHSTSA at the NAPT conference that seat belts are the safest way to ride caused quite a bit of conversation. Director Rosekind’s statement can be seen in full at the NAPT website, as can the response to NAPT’s statement. Director Rosekind made the statement that every child should have a three point belt on the yellow bus.
School buses should have seat belts.
Pat was asked if the State will fund the additional cost for adding belts to new buses, but she does not have an answer at this time.
Ron Deegan stated that the language should be clarified to say lap/shoulder belt.
Pat stated that at this point there is no requirement to differentiate between “seat belt” and “lap/shoulder belt”.
Maine history of seat belt legislation:
Seat belts for school buses has been proposed from 1985 through 2007 at various times and each time the legislation has received an “ought not to pass or “leave to withdraw” statement.
At this time, there is no requirement in Maine or from NHTSA for seat belts on school buses.
In other words, this is not a law, just a position from Administration at this time.
Kitty Roberts made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Wayne St Pierre
Adjourned at 12:40
The next meeting will be held January 14, at Maine Motor Transport,
142 Whitten Rd, Augusta from 10:00AM until 12:00PM.
Respectfully submitted by
Brenda Cravens CSPT
Secretary
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