Facts show Dist. 15 drivers are safest

A recent Daily Herald article gave information about District 15 transportation safety, including numbers but little detail. Worse, it gave no information for Durham School Services — important because District 15 is considering outsourcing transportation, and Durham’s the only company still under consideration.

The following compares D15 vs. Durham safety records. Durham information is publicly available; D15 numbers are FOIA.

Durham information includes only buses on the road and involving fatalities, injuries requiring immediate medical treatment away from the scene, or a towed vehicle. District 15 reports everything, however minor.

So to compare the two, only D15 accidents meeting the Durham report criteria should be included.

Detailed FOIA information covering Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2012 shows that only 12 (out of 44 total) D15 accidents meet this criteria. Generously assuming all remaining 11 accidents reported in the article meet the criteria, only 23 D15 accidents should be included.

District 15 drivers:

Ÿ 23 accidents between Jan-1 2012 and Mar-19 2013, or about 1.2 accidents every million miles.

Ÿ 50 injuries in over six years, 90 million miles, or 0.56 injuries every million miles.

Ÿ Zero student injuries requiring overnight hospitalization

Ÿ Zero fatalities, ever, in the district’s 67-year history. Well over 500 million miles.

Ÿ Drivers have an average 13 years’ experience, all in District 15

Ÿ Awarded “Best Fleet in America” (Bus Fleet Magazine 2001)

Ÿ Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (2003)

Durham drivers

(Over 24 months, just over 200 million miles in Illinois):

Ÿ 276 accidents, or about 1.4 accidents every million miles

Ÿ 182 injuries, or .91 injuries every million miles

Ÿ Unknown number of injured students hospitalized overnight.

Ÿ 3 fatalities in the last 24 months.

Ÿ Drivers have an average of 3 years experience

Ÿ 100 percent driver turnover every 3 years

D15 drivers are safer by every measure.

Steve Bramer

Palatine