A scary sight that’s becoming all too common, a school bus in a crash. Wednesday morning in Milwaukee, a school bus and a car collided at 37th and Silver Spring. Police say no one was hurt but both vehicles were badly damaged.
TMJ4 News reported on at least seven school bus crashes in six month in the Milwaukee area. No students or bus drivers were seriously injured, but parents say the numbers are concerning.
"I see they look very bad, I don't understand what is going on,” says Juan Hernandez as he is picking up his son from Zablocki Community School.
"Very worrisome. Especially for me, I worry a lot,” says Viola George who was picking up her daughters from Zablocki.
Wisconsin's Department of Transportation reports 633 school bus crashes in 2022. Up from the prior two school years, but down from pre-pandemic numbers. Milwaukee-area school bus driver Amy Wilsons says she isn't surprised.
"Nobody wants to be behind a school bus. They cut off school buses, brake in front of them. Very reckless,” says Wilson.
Dean Brown manages Lamers Bus Line. One of his buses crashed into a church near Holton and Locust last week after police say a car blew a stop light and hit the bus. Brown says in his nearly 40 years managing school busses he's never seen such a lax attitude with reckless driving
"Just the mentality that everyone is driving now, not stopping for stop signs, not stopping for red lights,” says Brown. "It is city wide. That's what we are dealing with on a day to day basis and that's what causing a lot of the crashes.“
Wilson says there is a simple solution.
"Stay clear of school buses. Be patient. There are kids on these buses,” says Wilson.
Overall, school buses are still considered the safest way to transport a child to and from school. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration reports students are eight times safer riding in a school bus than riding in a car.
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