Audible warning of disembarked bus passengers

#From 1951-1990, in the state of Ohio alone, over 40 students were killed in accidents outside of school buses. An appreciable number of these fatalities resulted from children wandering into the path of the bus as it departed from the drop site. A small child, even when crossing directly in front of the bus, may be obscured from the view of the driver who must also be attuned to approaching traffic as well as to disembarking children. Complicating the problem is the tendency of child to dawdle around the bus or to chase papers and the like underneath the bus rather than to proceed directly out of harm's way upon disembarking. Tragically, a disembarked child who has strayed too near the bus, his or her attention directed elsewhere, may be unaware of the danger engendered by the departure of the bus until it is too late for either the driver or the child to avoid a serious accident.

#To militate against accidents caused by oncoming traffic and the like, many school buses have been equipped with various safety devices. School buses commonly employ red and amber signal lamps and a stop arm to alert traffic of an impending stop. In operation, with the entrance handle closed, the driver actuates a manual switch to activate the flashing of the amber signal lamps to indicate the stopping of the bus. When the entrance door handle is moved toward the open position, the amber warning lights are deactivated and the red warning lights are actuated to indicate that children are departing from the bus. Concomitantly, a stop arm is extended to reveal additional flashing red lights as well as a stop sign configured in the symbolic shape of an octagon. When the entrance door handle is closed, all the lights are deactivated and the stop arm retracts automatically. School buses also are typically equipped with an audible electrical warning device that is actuated when the bus is in reverse gear. An audible warning signal is maintained as long as the bus is in reverse gear.

#Although the aforementioned devices have been shown to reduce the number of fatalities associated with student busing, school districts are continually searching for ways of making student transport safer. Accordingly, there has existed and remains a need for ways of alerting students to the danger attending a school bus departing from its drop site.

#FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a school bus;

#FIG. 2 is a flow diagram representing the logic employed in accordance with the present invention; and

#FIG. 3 is an electrical schematic diagram of a circuit for effecting the audible warning of disembarked passengers in accordance with the present invention.

#In the discourse to follow, the disembarked passenger audible warning method of the instant invention is considered initially in conjunction with a description of the operational logic employed. Although the logic is described as applied to the incorporation of the present inventive method into the operation of a school bus, it may be understood that the invention may be used with any passenger-carrying vehicle having an entrance door for the egress of passengers therethrough. Subsequently, the discourse turns to a description of an electrical circuit suited for effectuating the objects and precepts of the instant invention. Although the described circuit is analog-based, it is to be understood that a partially-analog or a digital electronic arrangement may also be employed to carry out the method of the present invention.

#Looking initially to FIG. 1, the ubiquitous school bus is shown generally at 10 as having a body, 12, and a driver-actuatable entrance door, 14. Mounted onto body 12 may be seen a number of conventional safety devices which may be operated in combination with the present invention. Considering these safety devices, an extensible stop arm, 16, may be provided to be extensible from a retracted to an extended orientation. Typically, a red sign, 18, having the familiar octagonal icon and customarily bearing the word "STOP" is mounted onto the end of stop arm 16 to visibly cue passing motorists to bring their vehicles to a stop. The visual effect of sign 18 is often enhanced by providing it with a pair of flashing red warning lights, 20. Motorists are also provided visual cues via the flashing of warning lights which are conspicuously mounted on both the front and the rear of bus 10. An arrangement of red child pick-up lights, 22a-d, and amber caution lights, 24a-d, is generally employed. A crossing arm, 26, also may be provided to be extensible from a retracted to an extended orientation for directing disembarking passengers to cross in front of the bus at a distance placing them within the unobstructed view of the driver.

#Referring also to FIG. 2, a flow chart representing the general logic and mode of operation employed to effect the object and precepts of the present invention in connection with the operation of school bus 10 is revealed generally at 29. Considering the schematic in detail, the operational logic of the instant method for audibly warning disembarked passengers of the impending departure of the vehicle from which they disembarked is begun at block 30. At block 30 it is revealed that, initially, a stopping of bus 10 is effected to allow for passengers carried therein to disembark. To alert following and oncoming traffic of the stopping of the bus, amber caution lights 24a-d mounted on body 12 of bus 10 are actuated. Amber caution lights 24a-d signal following and oncoming traffic to begin stopping as a safety measure preparatory to the loading or the unloading of children from school bus 10. Then, as revealed at block 32, the bus driver or another operator manually actuates entrance door 14 to an opened condition to allow for the egress of children therethrough. The opening of entrance door 14 also triggers the deactivation of amber caution lights 24a-d and the activation of red child pick-up lights 22a-d as a signal to the motorists that children are now departing or entering the bus and, as is generally mandated under state laws, that the motorists should remain stopped for the duration of the activation of red child pick-up lights 22a-d. Stopping arm 16 and crossing arm 22 also may be extended in response to the occurrence of a door 14 open condition to operate in conjunction with the flashing of red child pick-up lights 22a-d. Occurring concomitantly with the activation of red child pick-up lights 22a-d, a timer provided in accordance with the present invention is reset from a timed to a reset or untimed state. With bus door 14 opened, as revealed at block 34, children are allowed to exit bus 10.