Girl seen behind wheel of school bus
An alert Coatesville resident observed a Scott Middle School bus parked along South 10th Avenue yesterday, which would not have been an unusual sight if a young girl had not been sitting in the driver's seat.
An alert Coatesville resident observed a Scott Middle School bus parked along South 10th Avenue yesterday, which would not have been an unusual sight if a young girl had not been sitting in the driver's seat.
The resident watched for several minutes about 2 p.m. as the child played behind the wheel while the bus driver, an adult female, sat a few seats back engrossed in her cellphone. The resident was sufficiently alarmed by the safety risk that he snapped a photo, prompting the adult to dispel any notion that the bus had experienced mechanical problems: She returned to the wheel and drove away.
Appalled by what he had witnessed, the resident sent the photo to the Coatesville schools superintendent, questioning the wisdom of a bus driver's allowing a young child - perhaps her own - to play at the controls. Superintendent Richard Como responded by saying that he shared the resident's concern and that he had forwarded the photo to the bus company so they would "correct this practice immediately." Let's hope so.