An Open Letter
by Tyanna Guzman
Every time my bus hits a bump in the road, passes a traffic sign, or even turns a corner, I already have a scream built up in my throat. A scream that is ready to come out in the next school bus accident.
On Sept. 18, my bus hit a metal sign at 7:09 in the morning on Avalon Park Boulevard. There were around 30 students on board. The side front window was shattered, showering glass on my peers and I.
That day three of us suffered minor concussions, a girl got glass in her eye, and a few of us had cuts from the shards of glass. The bus driver that we had that day is a cancer patient. Every Tuesday she got chemotherapy. It was a Wednesday when we got into an accident, a day after her treatment.
I’ve had trouble feeling safe on the school bus since then, and getting into another accident on my bus on Feb. 5 did not help. We were approaching Stoneybrook on South Alafaya Trail when a road machine working with a construction team in front of us gave the signal to pass him on the left.
As we passed the machine it unexpectedly swerved left on us. Metal bent loudly and, once again, we were showered with shattered glass.
Some of us sobbed. I was halfway off my seat since we don’t wear seatbelts on the bus. I was taken to the hospital, suffering from a panic attack. After a long wait with no end in sight, some of the students just walked home since no one took charge.
When I ride the bus every day I look out of the window, worried that at any moment we could be in another school bus accident. I no longer feel safe on the bus during my commutes to and from school.
I believe that buses should be better and that we, as students, should be better taken care of.