Should teens drive buses?

[adrian]

Article from Honolulu Advertiser's Website (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Apr/26/bz/bz04p.html)With Hawai'i's unemployment rate at a 14-year low, transportation companies are struggling to find qualified drivers, so they've come up with a possible solution: Lower the minimum age for commercial licenses to 18 from 21.

A bill to do just that has passed the Legislature and is waiting for Gov. Linda Lingle's signature. The governor's press secretary, Russell Pang, said the measure is under review. Lingle has until May 3 to make up her mind.Unless they show maturity in driving, have a clean driving record, have a lot of hours driving the vehicle (say, 200 hrs?) and don't drive those vehicles in the night, then its okay by me. And as long as they don't get to pimp those vehiclee, its even better.

As a teen myself, if the job demands it, then let them hire the young people to do the job, but there should be limits to what they can and can't do until they reach a certain age or experience level.

[cezanne]

Brings to mind the Japan train wreck. Officials are wondering whether the 23 year old conductor was too young. Sure that's a train and we're talking busses, but driving a passenger bus would still carry the same level of responsibility regarding the safety of the passengers and other vehicles/pedestrians I would think.

[U'ilani]

I can't imagine an insurance company would be willing to provide coverage for workers that young.

[craigwatanabe]

Well being once an 18-year old a while ago and being in the all volunteer military at the same time...If a person is old enough to take a bullet for the sake of our freedom, that teenager should be old enough to drive a bus.

[U'ilani]

I'm looking at the issue pragmatically. Many car rental companies won't even rent to those under age 21 because they tend to have a higher incidence of accidents. Perhaps these transportation companies will self-insure or are so desperate for workers that they are willing to pay a high insurance premium for those younger bus drivers.

[adrian]

Well being once an 18-year old a while ago and being in the all volunteer military at the same time...If a person is old enough to take a bullet for the sake of our freedom, that teenager should be old enough to drive a bus.
Not exactly.

I was thinking of how teens would drive the bus this morning, and the bus was speeding down an off ramp going onto Middle St. The light was yellow, so I thought to myself "gun it! Go through the light". When I thought of that, I realized that teens are in a rush to go everywhere. If I teen was actually driving the "etransit" bus, then he would have drifted that turn and woke up everyone on the bus and on the streets.

[craigwatanabe]

Not exactly.

I was thinking of how teens would drive the bus this morning, and the bus was speeding down an off ramp going onto Middle St. The light was yellow, so I thought to myself "gun it! Go through the light". When I thought of that, I realized that teens are in a rush to go everywhere. If I teen was actually driving the "etransit" bus, then he would have drifted that turn and woke up everyone on the bus and on the streets.


Actually that might not be such a bad idea! You'd get to work in a heartbeat! Imagine a bus drifting from intersection to intersection. :D

[adrian]

Actually that might not be such a bad idea! You'd get to work in a heartbeat! Imagine a bus drifting from intersection to intersection. :D
LOL

I better stop visiting forums in school or else I'll be LMAO all day.

[cezanne]

Actually that might not be such a bad idea! You'd get to work in a heartbeat! Imagine a bus drifting from intersection to intersection. :D

So if the bus is lowered, has a spoiler on the back, loud useless muffler... that's the bus we want to get on to get there on time right? :)

[Glen Miyashiro]

There's been some recent research (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A52687-2005Jan31) on teenagers and brain development that seems to explain why even though teens should be the best drivers -- good reflexes, sharp senses, etc. -- they have the highest fatality rates. The short answer seems to be that teenage brains aren't quite done developing yet, especially the parts that evaluate risk.

[pzarquon]

So if the bus is lowered, has a spoiler on the back, loud useless muffler... that's the bus we want to get on to get there on time right?I think those would be reserved for passengers insecure about their masculinity. :p

I didn't know the age limit was a law, rather than an industry standard (like what I imagine dicates age restrictions in the car rental industry). And while I don't neccessarily think it should be a law, I don't think opening the door to younger drivers is the answer. If recruiting is a problem, don't lower the standard... raise the salary. Of course, the companies don't want to do that!

I imagine even if tour operators could hire an 18-year-old driver, insurance costs would make that impractical. At least, no less impractical than giving everyone a raise...

[adrian]

So if the bus is lowered, has a spoiler on the back, loud useless muffler... that's the bus we want to get on to get there on time right? :)
The engine in the back is loud enough, so we don't need any additional noise.

Plus, where would the subwoofer go ;) ?, I don't think some adults would want to hear songs with bad language in every verse, and spinners would look bad on those wheels. :D

[craigwatanabe]

Oh that would appeal to the young! Heck a lot of the buses already have air suspension (for the handicapped). Rear wing, spinners yeah. But unless you redesign the current box shape these add-ons will look so Ghetto!
:D

[pzarquon]

Spinners on city buses. Man, I'd pay to see that. Wonder if a set could be tacked on without anyone noticing? (Until they started spinning, of course.)

As for the box shape... hell, if the Honda Element (http://automobiles.honda.com/models/model_overview.asp?ModelName=Element) and the Scion xB (http://www.scion.com/drive/gallery/drive_xb_gallery.html) are selling like hotcakes, I don't see why a square bus won't turn heads...

I'll tell you what, though. I work near the airport, and there are commercial vehicles everywhere. Buses, tractor trailers... and if these people driving these things represent the "best and brightest" of the CDL crowd, I'm wondering if adding teens to the roster will really make things worse.

I mean, I know it ain't easy to, say, reverse a tractor trailer into a loading bay... but six tries, eventually involving a gaggle of bystanders to guide you? Sheesh.

[adrian]

Oh that would appeal to the young! Heck a lot of the buses already have air suspension (for the handicapped). Rear wing, spinners yeah. But unless you redesign the current box shape these add-ons will look so Ghetto!
:D
That's why OTS got those buses with the smoother front (the real tall ones).

BTW, how many speakers will it take to fill the bus with music?

[vuster]

Heck! there's nothing wrong with a 18yr old driving a bus. check this company:
www.unitrans.com (a transit company in UC Davis... teens can drive anything as long as they receive proper training, and this company only consists of college students that drive their buses. they have 20' 30' and 40' buses and double-deck buses too.) and guess what.... they're quite on-time! (funny)

i'm sorry for bring back this old topic... i was just bored... did a google search 'bus drifting' expecting to find a nice video of a bus drifting... and found this forum/thread....

btw, i'm one of the unitrans driver.

... god brought me here to enlighten ya'll... 18yr old can drive buses safe... maybe not accident free... but safely...

-peace

[mel]

Governor Lingle vetoed SB74 (http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/docs/getstatus2.asp?billno=SB74) which would have allowed 18 year olds to have commercial drivers' license. So far in the State of Hawaii, teenagers driving busses is currently out of the question.