Crash puts school bus safety in spotlight

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. — School bus safety is in the spotlight after 12 students were injured when one crashed in northern Minnesota Thursday morning.

Officials say a school bus for Cherry School, located in Iron, was on its route when a motorist ran a stop sign and struck the bus, causing it to roll. A dozen students were taken to the hospital and several others suffered injuries that did not require hospitalization.

Federal safety leaders say students are eight times safer riding a bus to school compared to other options.

"Situations that involve a school bus is scary," Vice President of Operations at Northstar Bus Lines and American Student Transportation Nick Martini said.

There are several safety features on the outside of a school bus, from flashing red lights, cross-view mirrors and stop-sign arms, but there are updated features on the inside.

Samsara is software that both Northstar Bus Lines and American Student Transportation use on their buses.

"Samsara helps us with driver training, our cameras have AI technology built into it to help detect unsafe errors," Martini said.

From 2016-2020, there were nearly 2,800 school bus crashes in the state. There were 225 students hurt — that's a tiny fraction of the 870,000 public school students in Minnesota.

That's why installing Samsara two years ago was vital. The system helps drivers with real-time alerts identifying unsafe driving behaviors inside the bus and out. It also flags a driver in the exact moment the video is saved to be used for training purposes.

"That actually sends our training department a notice saying hey check this event and that allows us to go to a driver and say, 'Hey let's look at this situation and figure out how to do better,'" Martini said.

It's a benefit for students on the bus and drivers on the road.

"It's just another layer of safety because we are human," Martini said.