Bus Crash Raises Concerns

By Grace Deng

On Wednesday, November 8th, two Shanghai American School Pudong busses crashed into each other on their way out of the back gate. Although no one was seriously hurt, two people suffered minor injuries due to the impact of the collision.

“The bus in front of us stopped abruptly and our bus couldn’t brake in time so we crashed,” said Andrew Lau, a junior was in one of the buses at the time. “We crashed straight on.”
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One of the buses lost a taillight, while the other bus’ front window was completely shattered.

Shanghai American School’s STUCO and the school administration took this as an opportunity to remind students on bus safety, reminding people during Thursday’s grade level meetings to wear their seat belts in the case of collision. During the sophomore grade level meeting, Dr. Lee assured students that the school administration was working with the bus company to improve our bus riding experience and safety.

This bus crash comes after a series of complaints from students about the new bus company this year, as many students have raised concerns about late buses and missing class. One junior, Angie Fan, even claimed during the junior grade level meeting that busses have been cutting through lanes and speeding.

When asked about whether people have been wearing their seat belts more often in response to the bus crash, Jasmine Liu, a sophomore, replied “a little.” She says “not all the students have started wearing seat belts, but most of the elementary and middle school students have.”

Students suggest that the number of students wearing their seat belts depends largely on whether or not bus monitors can convince students to wear their seat belts.

Jessica Pu, a freshman, says “about two thirds of students on my bus wear their seat belts. Our bus monitor does a good job of telling them to do so. However, basically no one seems to wear seat belts on after school busses.”

“It’s easier to get everyone on smaller buses to wear their seat belts,” said Michelle Zhou, a junior. “My bus only has 4 people because I live in Puxi, but I hear from my friends that on the bigger buses, the bus monitors just yell out to wear their seat belts and no one takes them seriously.” 

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