There is a dire shortage of school bus drivers across the nation.  In response, school districts are resorting to “creative” solutions, including hiring retirees.  Oh, dear, that may -- may -- be a destructive solution.

A stark fact is that increased age decreases our ability to deal with complex traffic situations, such as frequent bus stops.  If school districts are so desperate to coax retirees back, they must insist on more stringent, and frequent, physical and performance tests. Furthermore, to reduce the occurrence of tricky driving scenarios, school bus stops should be spaced further apart.

Aging, of course, is natural, and can even be dignified and graceful.  For the vast majority of us who appreciate our time on Earth, it is definitely better than the alternative.  However, there are no age-related “equity of outcomes”; indeed, chronological age and functional age diverge at different rates for different people.  Life is not “equitable” in that regard.

Some of us remain alert and functional, others are like my elderly neighbor.  He shuffles across the road to retrieve his mail, then, presuming he remembers whence he came, hobbles back… all in the time I mowed half my lawn.  Yet, based on his chronological age, he is eligible to give up full-time retirement to drive a school bus.  In fact, the most popular part-time job for retirees in Washington State is… you guessed it, school bus driver.  And this popularity is prevalent across the nation.

Sure, my neighbor’s physical attributes can be tested, should he proudly and defiantly apply for a driving job, but there’s more that doesn’t meet the eye (as it were).  It’s not only being able to see kids -- and other hazards -- but being able to process the information promptly.  Indubitably, visual processing acuity decreases with age, and cognitive degeneration increases commensurately. Even presuming school districts implemented regular screening for older drivers, they might not pick up on this. 

Most school districts require a CDL license to drive a school bus.  However,  one can be really, really old and still be eligible; furthermore, the renewal provisions aren’t uniform across regions. Actually, per the DoT, states now have the leeway to waive a portion of the commercial driver’s license skills test that requires drivers to identify physical engine components.  That’s fine -- one can drive without knowing what’s going on under the hood -- but since they are also encouraging retirees to return to work (retirees can return and still receive their pensions), it might be prudent to recommend stricter guidelines for physical and performance tests.  

Even in the strictest cases, where completion of an in-service training course is required yearly, the driver will likely be prepared. Nevertheless, physical and cognitive abilities of senior drivers might deteriorate more quickly than the next test date, which might not even capture certain cognitive deficiencies. 

Naturally, the driver being tested will likely remember to take any prescribed medications that day, as appropriate.  Therefore, any tendency to slouch or perform “stiff neck driving,” or any other decreased flexibility that impairs a wide field of vision, might not manifest on test day.  More cynically, there may be a rushed hiring predisposition that overlooks borderline deficiencies given the shrinking candidate pool.

Not everyone or everything can be tested or regulated, but one thing that will reduce school bus accidents is to reduce school bus stops, which especially tax the reflexes and visual processing acumen of senior drivers. Indeed, most school bus accidents occur at bus stops, which require acute attention to driving detail as students -- and sometimes their dogs -- try to embark and disembark. 

This document enumerates the advantages and disadvantages of frequent stops -- disadvantages outnumber advantages.  Also, the disadvantages have much greater impact -- for example, “most school bus fatalities occur while school buses are stopped to load/unload children.” That far outweighs the convenience of parents being able to see their children at the stop. 

Given the increased recruitment of seniors all over the country, another disadvantage of frequent stops (not highlighted in the link above) is that they demand very effective physical and mental coordination in complex environments, even while unruly children foment commotion.  Even while unforgiving traffic harries school bus drivers.

It is variable, but many school districts space their school bus stops from 300 to 600 feet apart. As anyone getting caught behind a bus knows, that’s infuriatingly frequent.  Let the little tikes walk a bit more; after all, they usually have to live about two miles -- give or take -- away for the school to be required to provide transportation in the first place.  Increasing, where safe, the distance between stops -- especially for high-schoolers -- will not only reduce safety hazards by limiting the toll on drivers, but might help the kids delay obesity.

Here’s how one school is currently advertising an opening:  “[School name] is seeking a Part-time School Bus Driver. This would be a perfect job for someone retired looking for a job share for 2 hours each day Monday -- Friday for 10 hours a week plus field trips.” [Emphasis added]. 

The part about field trips has me particularly concerned because it takes drivers out of their comfort zones and towards unknown hazards.  Unfamiliar environments require greater concentration, especially when multiple school buses are converging on an event like cross-country races, for example.

It’s probably anathema to progressives, but there is no equity of outcomes when it comes to functional age.  That’s partly why mandatory retirements are mostly unlawful, forbidden by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.  There are a few exceptions, including judges, police officers, and commercial airline pilots.  School bus drivers are not an exception.

While one might assume that being an airline pilot entails more risk and responsibility than being a school bus driver, the former actually operate in a safe, regulated environment that’s staffed with consummate professionals.  By contrast, school bus drivers actually have to make more maneuvers, and face a range of physical and cognitive challenges, all while sharing the road with impatient, distracted drivers of various skills and temperaments.  Indeed, when last I flew, the pilot wished us well on the most dangerous part of our trip -- the drive to our final destination.

Nevertheless, the AARP represents a powerful and reliable voting bloc that generally disfavors mandatory retirement based on age.  For now, we can at least reduce school bus accidents by requiring frequent CDL license renewals after a certain age, and increase distance between stops. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, especially since the driver demographics skew increasingly older as districts employ “creative” recruiting outreach.  Or are they ultimately destructive?  

Image: Ian Chapin