Tulsa area school bus drivers get a weather safety lesson

Every day school bus drivers across the state are put in charge of transporting Oklahoma's most precious natural resource and doing it safely. <br/><br/>Still, many bus drivers don't know all

Thursday, March 10th 2005, 10:20 am

By: News On 6

Every day school bus drivers across the state are put in charge of transporting Oklahoma's most precious natural resource and doing it safely.

Still, many bus drivers don't know all they could about traveling in Oklahoma's severe weather. Last year, a Broken Arrow school bus drove right toward a rotating wall cloud, that soon would produce a tornado.

Before spring storms hit this year, several local school districts wanted to make sure their bus drivers were more knowledgeable about how to handle severe weather. News on 6 meteorologist Dick Faurot went to Jenks High School Thursday, where drivers from Jenks, Union, Glenpool, Sapulpa and Bixby learned what to look for in stormy skies.

Often times, folks on the road can drive right into a dangerous situation without even knowing it. That's why bus drivers and school leaders say it's critical to know what to do when the weather turns stormy. Jenks School bus driver Peggy Alverson: "As far as I'm concerned, it's like driving my own children. It's very important to be constantly aware of what's going on around me."

Union Schools transportation director Gary Greenhill: â€œLot of times, they hear it from us and you know, they just get tired of listening to us talk about it, so we were able to hear from a professional how to deal with a lot of these and what to look for."