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If replacement buses arrive this November as expected, Rappahannock will retire its last “Pre-DOT” school bus from a regular run three years ahead of the deadline established by the State Department of Educatiop.
It was a “Pre-DOT” bus, manufactured before tougher Department of Transportation safety standards took effect in April, 1977, that was involved in the church bus accident in Kentucky earlier this year which killed 27 people, including 25 children. That bus, struck by a drunk driver traveling the wrong direction on a divided highway, burst into flames after the crash. The victims were overcome by smoke and toxic fumes.
The federal standards deal primarily with the vehicles’ gas tanks, requiring stronger walls and more protected placement of the tanks. The design changes lessen the chances of a fire breaking out after an accident.
In a memo dated July 27, State Superintendent of Schools S. John Davis said that the Kentucky accident and the increased attention it focused on “Pre-DOT” buses coupled with findings of the National Transportation Safety Board and the Virginia Department of Education’s own study “transmits a clear signal that Pre-DOT” vintage buses must
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