Form NHTSA Form 1416 NHTSA Form 1416 Bus Driver Survey

OMB Control Number: XXXX-XXX

Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

Appendix A-2: School Bus Driver Survey Text

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, a federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to collection of information subject to the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act unless that collection of information displays a current valid OMB Control number. The OMB Control Number for this information collection is XXXX-XXXX (expiration date: MM/DD/YYYY). The average amount of time to complete the screening is 15 minutes. All responses to this collection of information are voluntary. If you have comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden send them to Information Collection Clearance Officer, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, W51-312, 1200 New Jersey Ave, S.E., Washington, DC, 20590.

Intro

Thank you for taking the school bus driver seat belt survey. This survey should take around 15 minutes of your time, and is part of the Education on Proper Use of Safety Belts on School Buses study funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Your feedback may help school districts and agencies with their decision-making processes related to school bus seat belts. As part of this study, you will be asked to share your experiences with seat belts and student behavior from your perspective as a school bus driver that has experience driving a bus with seat belts.

Confidentiality

We will not ask for your name or contact information, and will not report which survey responses are associated with a school district. Because it is possible that you may feel sensitive about sharing these experiences, the research team will report survey information generally with other responses. If you feel comfortable with this information, please begin to take the survey. To instead receive a paper copy of the survey questions, or to ask a question, please contact Bryan Katz at 703.754.0248 or [email protected]. Thank you for your help!

Driver Details

Q1. Name of Your Employing District/Agency

________________________________

Q2. Name of the U.S. State of Your District/Agency <select from drop down box>

________________________________

Q3. Grade levels you have transported during 2018-2019 School Year for this District/Agency? (Select all that apply)

• Elementary

• Middle School or Junior High

• High School or Pre-College

Q4. How many total years have you driven a school bus? <text box>

Q5. Have you ever driven a school bus without seat belts on it?

• Yes

• No

Q6. How long have you driven a bus with seat belts on it?

• Occasionally (Substitute, Rotational, Less than One Month)

• Regularly (1-6 Mos)

• Regularly (6 Mos - 24 Mos)

Q7. Which type of seat belt technology do you have experience with? (If both, please select the type that corresponds to your current bus. Please answer the remaining questions from the perspective of the type of seat belt that you select below.)

• Lap Belt

• 3-Point Lap/Shoulder Belt

Seat Belt Policy

Q8.  Please select which option best describes whether your district/agency has a school bus seat belt required use policy:

• School district adopted a policy that requires students to use seat belts when present.

• School district has not adopted a required policy; usage decisions are left to the individual driver and/or student choice.

• Don’t know.

Training

Q9. As a school bus driver in your district, what are your responsibilities regarding the use of seat belts on the school bus? (Select all that apply)

• Provide initial instruction to students regarding use of the belts (at the beginning of the school year, or when a new school bus with belts is put in service)

• Provide periodic instruction / refresher training to students regarding use of the belts

• Provide daily verbal reminders to students to wear the belts

• Enforce seat belt use via verbal warnings

• Enforce seat belt use via written citations (“write up”)

• Conducting a walk-through with reminders before departing school in the afternoon

• Please use the provided text box to elaborate on your responsibilities, if necessary: <text box>

Q10. How did you learn about what your responsibilities were with seat belts on the school bus?

• Classroom Training / Safety Meeting

• My supervisor explained it to me

• Another driver explained it to me

• Printed materials (pamphlet, flyer, etc.) provided by district/agency

• Electronic communication (email, newsletter, etc.) provided by district/agency

• Other: _____________________________________________

• I did not receive information regarding the seat belts on the school bus

Q11. Have you received any additional training or informational updates about school bus seat belts since installation?

• Yes

• No

Q12. Have there been any drills for the students to practice getting out of the seat belts during an emergency or evacuation?

• Yes

• No

Seat Belt Enforcement

Q13. As a school bus driver, do you require your students on your school bus to wear their seat belts?

• Yes

• No

Q14. Do you require all students to wear their belts, or does this vary by grade level?

• All students are required to wear their belts

• The requirement varies by grade level

• I don’t know

• Other: <text box>

Q15. From your experience, which ways are the most effective to get students to use the seat belts?

	Extremely effective	Moderately effective	Somewhat effective	Ineffective	N/A (I/we do not use this method)
Verbally reminding the students when they board (AM Pick Up)	□	□	□	□	□
Verbally reminding the students on route	□	□	□	□	□
Walk through inspection before leaving school (PM)	□	□	□	□	□
Parent signed seat belt agreement / contract	□	□	□	□	□
Writing students up for not wearing their belts	□	□	□	□	□
Additional Adult on Bus (E.g. Attendant, Aide, Monitor / Matron)	□	□	□	□	□
OTHER (please enter)	□	□	□	□	□

Q16. On average, how many students per bus load wear their seat belts (N/A if you don’t drive that grade level)?

	AM	PM
Elementary School	<drop down> (Most / Some / None / N/A)	<drop down> (Most / Some / None / N/A)
Middle School	<drop down> (Most / Some / None / N/A)	<drop down> (Most / Some / None / N/A)
High School	<drop down> (Most / Some / None / N/A)	<drop down> (Most / Some / None / N/A)

Value of Seat Belts

Student Behavior

Q17.  Have you noticed any changes in student behavior on your school bus since the seat belts were installed?

• Yes

• No

• If YES, please explain the changes in student behavior that you have noticed: <text box>

Q18. Since the safety belts were installed, students on my school bus are generally:

Much more well-behaved	Slightly more well-behaved	The same as they were before	Slightly less well-behaved	Much less well-behaved
□	□	□	□	□

Q19.  Please indicate which of the following student safety behaviors that you have observed since the seat belts were installed. (Select all that apply)

• Students hitting each other with the belts

• Backpacks or other objects getting tangled in the safety belts

• Students having trouble getting buckled when they first sit down (more than the first few days)

• Students having trouble getting out of the belts (more than the first few days)

• Other: <text box>

• None (I have not noticed any changes in student behavior)

Q20. The following table lists some safety behaviors that may have changed since the seat belts were installed. Please read through each behavior and indicate whether that behavior has decreased, increased, or stayed the same since the safety belts were installed.  

	Increased	Stayed the same	Decreased	N/A
Students hitting each other with their hands or other objects	□	□	□	□
Students standing (rather than sitting) while the bus is moving	□	□	□	□
Students out of their seats while the bus is moving	□	□	□	□
OTHER (please enter)	□	□	□	□
OTHER (please enter)	□	□	□	□

Stress & Distraction

Q21. Since the seat belts were installed, my stress level has:

Decreased greatly	Decreased moderately	Decreased slightly	Remained the same	Increased slightly	Increased moderately	Increased greatly
□	□	□	□	□	□	□

Q22. If you feel that your stress level has changed, please explain how/why you feel it has changed: <text box>

Q23.  Since the safety belts were installed, my distraction level has:

Decreased greatly	Decreased moderately	Decreased slightly	Remained the same	Increased slightly	Increased moderately	Increased greatly
□	□	□	□	□	□	□

Q24. If you feel that your distraction level has changed, please explain how/why you feel it has changed: <text box>

Final Comments

Q25.  Overall, what are your thoughts on using seat belts on school buses? As a driver, what do you believe are the positives and negatives of using seat belts on school buses?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Q26.  Are there any ways that you think school bus application or use can be improved for your district/agency? How would you improve these?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Q27.  Please provide any additional comments here.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Completion Notice

Thank you for completing the survey! Your feedback is very helpful. Please contact Bryan Katz at 703.754.0248 or [email protected] with any questions.

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NHTSA Form 1416