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Bus driver training | School bus rider training

Bus driver training

School bus drivers must pass the Commercial Driver License (CDL) license exam with a school bus endorsement. Restrictions are more stringent for certain kinds of violations and do not permit any impaired driving violations. There is a criminal screening as well done through the Department of Justice to prevent persons from driving children who have a violent or abusive history. Some bus companies and school districts hold regular new driver and continuing education programs for bus drivers. Through training, Milwaukee has cut in half the number of bus crashes. The Wisconsin School Bus Association also conducts some training and school bus driver recognition programs.

School bus rider training

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Department of Public Instruction (DPI) developed and distributed a K-12 curriculum to every school district in the state in 1992. This included two urban-oriented videos for school districts where only yellow light stops are made. The curriculum is not limited to urban areas, and with some explanation, the videos can be used to show and discuss expected pupil behavior waiting for and on the bus.

The National Safety Council has also developed a set of school bus safety materials including videos for students, parents and bus drivers. The following files are in Adobe PDF format.

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Questions about the content of this page:
Larry Corsi, larry.corsi@dot.state.wi.us
Last modified: July 26, 2011