FROM STAFF REPORTS

NORTH SHELBY—An Auburn University doctoral candidate recently concluded an extensive study on school bus safety at Oak Mountain Elementary School. From December 2015 through Jan. 15, Yousif Abulhassan and his team of researchers spent time at the school running tests on bus emergency exits and evacuation time.

Abulhassan, an industrial and systems engineering doctoral candidate, and his team measured school bus evacuation times of elementary school students through various scenarios. The tests were designed to determine the physical requirements necessary to operate and evacuate a school bus, how long it takes students to evacuate a bus with and without verbal directions and prompting from the driver, and if the current emergency exits on school buses provide adequate emergency evacuation times.

Strength capabilities and physical characteristics of OMES students were measured to determine if they were capable of opening the rear emergency door of a school bus in a rolled-over orientation.

Students also practiced evacuating a school bus on its side using a controlled school bus mock-up.

“I believe school buses are the safest mode of transportation for our students,” Abulhassan said. “My goal is to make them even safer.”