Editor, The News:

We would like to respond to Jack Kirkwood’s letter about bus safety on April 8.

Every school bus we have has left and right mirrors, two mirrors on the fenders to check what’s in front of the bus and a mirror inside the bus to check on kids in the bus.

That’s five mirrors versus his two.

We make between 25 and 35 stops per trip. We have two trips in the morning and two trips in the afternoon. People should do the math.

These stops are made on well-traveled roads versus other drivers going from terminal to terminal.

If Kirkwood or anyone else would like to criticize a bus driver, let him walk in his or her shoes for a day. We have 50 to 70 kids talking loudly, five sets of mirrors to check, one to 10 kids getting off at each stop, checking where they all went, checking traffic before moving to the next stop and checking the kids again.

Does he or anyone else have the knowledge or facts to criticize the ability of a bus driver?

We are not making excuses for the driver from Laurel, because it was a terrible accident. We are just making a point about what he went through and what we go through every day.

Ask school teachers or parents what they think of a bus driver and they will almost all say, “I wouldn’t want that job.”

We have safety meetings monthly and we have to be re-certified every four years. This consists of a written exam and eye exam with the state police. We also have our instructors ride with us for a day and review all the classroom instructions as if we were new drivers.

Statistically, bus drivers are the safest on the road.

Clair E. Robison

Pat Magusiak

(This letter was submitted by 10 other bus drivers.)