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DeKalb school bus crashes underreported

School system turns to weekly report to fix problem
Fleet manager Charles Smith is reflected in a side mirror while going over a detecting system that can warn drivers there is an object near their bus at the Carroll Pitts Jr. Transportation Center in Marietta. Attention to school bus safety has heightened after students were killed in a Chattanooga bus crash. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: Curtis Compton

Credit: Curtis Compton

Fleet manager Charles Smith is reflected in a side mirror while going over a detecting system that can warn drivers there is an object near their bus at the Carroll Pitts Jr. Transportation Center in Marietta. Attention to school bus safety has heightened after students were killed in a Chattanooga bus crash. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
By Christopher Quinn
Dec 16, 2016

DeKalb County school failed to report the correct number of school bus crashes in 2014 and 2015, but have turned to pulling and filing weekly reports to update the information.

The numbers are important because missing data hinders the ability of decision makers to better train drivers, spot accident trends and bad drivers and get the overall picture of bus safety, further putting children at risk as issues slip through the cracks.

A number of school districts have failed to report full number of bus crashes to the state Department of Education.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution looked into the numbers for metro Atlanta and Georgia in this report on bus crashes and student safety. Or you can read the story in the link below.

About the Author

Christopher Quinn is a writer and editor who has worked for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1999. He writes stories on Veterans Affairs, business including high-tech growth in metro Atlanta, Georgia's $72 billion farm economy, and he oversees assigning and editing news obituaries.

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