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Those among them who are "typical suburban soccer moms", pick the exact same names chosen by "typical suburban soccer moms" of other colors.
A "typical suburban soccer mom" is UPPER MIDDLE CLASS, with a higher-than-average IQ, and a better family background, than a "typical League Football Mom", or a "typical Little League Baseball Mom". Soccer, in America, has traditionally been for people who are a cut above other Americans. They've tended to be the brainy types, with advanced degrees and advanced skill sets - members of the MERITOCRACY. Color has very little to do with it.
I should have known somebody who mention that. Just because 18 year olds are capable of fighting in a war does not mean 24 year olds are as experienced as older people when it comes to driving a school bus.
There are plenty of 18 year olds in the military that make mistakes that would look back 10 years later and realize they now know how to not make that mistake.
The more experienced of a driver you are the better at being a defensive driver you are. Sometimes the only time you gain that experience is when you actually avoid an accident or even get in an accident. Most people who drive at a young age have no clue to how powerful a vehicle is & how hard it is to stop when that vehicle is above certain speeds.
The same people that thought this young adult that was capable of driving a school bus full of kids can now live with their decision knowing 6 kids are dead.
Not the way the guy looks. The picture painted in the press of a very young man juggling a heavy workload who may have been affected by too many demands on his time. A young man with a driving record that doesn't paint him as conscientious about his driving habits. A young man who was recklessly speeding with a bus full of youngsters. And IF the reports of some of the students are believed a young man who MAY have sometimes been drinking while driving the bus. THAT is the picture being presented and it is scary that someone like that was given a job as a bus driver.
One would think that the bus company would have policies in place to suspend drivers who demonstrate irresponsible driving, or to weed them out in the hiring process.
As a parent I would certainly not be comfortable KNOWING such a person was driving my children on a bus, neither would most concerned parents (aka 'soccer moms')
The initial report I heard after the accident stated there was no evidence the driver had no drugs or alcohol in his system.
I am not defending him at all. This man was responsible for the lives of little kids and he failed to protect them by behaving recklessly. I'm wondering if the bus company even bothered to do a background check. We don't know if he really told the children to prepare to die, as one child claims, but that indicates he might have a mental illness. One mother said her children complained about the driver's strange behavior before the incident.
[url=http://abcnews.go.com/US/warning-signs-chattanooga-school-bus-driver-weeks-months/story?id=43738754]Warning Signs About Chattanooga School Bus Driver Weeks, Months Before Fatal Crash - ABC News[/url]
"I’ve been calling the school since the first day," Mateen told ABC affiliate WTVC in Chattanooga. "Nobody’s returning my call."
The initial report I heard after the accident stated there was no evidence the driver had no drugs or alcohol in his system.
No, not at the time of the accident (although I would think a comprehensive drug test would take a while to come back with results) but in one of the articles it is reported that one of the kids said something like the guy had 'sometimes been drinking while driving the bus, since the first day on the job'. That's why i say I say IF and MAY, I never take those types of things as gospel. I'd link but I don't remember which article i read it in.
Many parents, including myself, don't have any other choice if we want our children to get to school and if we want to keep our jobs.
Exactly! And the further one strays from the suburban idyll depicted by Madison Avenue, the more limited and grittier the options faced by both the parents and the bus contractor. Eventually, somebody starts scraping the bottom of the barrel.
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Not the way the guy looks. The picture painted in the press of a very young man juggling a heavy workload who may have been affected by too many demands on his time. A young man with a driving record that doesn't paint him as conscientious about his driving habits. A young man who was recklessly speeding with a bus full of youngsters. And IF the reports of some of the students are believed a young man who MAY have sometimes been drinking while driving the bus. THAT is the picture being presented and it is scary that someone like that was given a job as a bus driver.
