You are a bus driver driving students home. It's the middle of the night, and you're tired. What do you do? Pull into a rest stop and find a place to sleep? Keep driving?
You are one of two bus drivers traveling overnight with a bus load of students. You know that the other bus driver is driving dangerously because he is tired. What do you do? Urge the driver to stop? Call your supervisor? Talk to the school representative in charge of the students? Do nothing?
You are the superintendent of school district approving a road trip to Chicago. You and the rest of the trip planners want to keep the costs down while getting the most for the students' money. You plan to drive all night to get home rather than pay for an extra night in a hotel. What do you do if the driver announces he is too tired to drive the bus home safely?
While Loren Ernst, the driver in the fatal bus crash carrying Pelican Rapids High School band students who has now been charged with criminal vehicular homicide, is ultimately responsible for the decision he allegedly made to continue driving despite extreme fatigue, it would seem that the circumstances surrounding this tragedy made his choice an impossible one.
What would have happened if Ernst had the courage to stop driving when he realized how tired he was? What was the contingency plan for the students and chaperones? Would the school district officials and parents complain about the students arriving home late because the bus driver had to sleep? Would Ernst lose his job? What you would have done in this situation?
TRACY BLODGETT, WOODBURY
