FORT VALLEY, Ga. — At the Blue Bird headquarters in Fort Valley, hundreds of buses are built, along with new technology.
All buses have the option of being equipped with seat belts, but they are looking to take safety to the next level.
The company is adding two new standard safety features: a camera mounted on the back of the bus and electronic stability control, or ESC.
Trevor Rudderham, the senior VP of engineering, says ESC helps "keep control of the bus, so if the driver is trying to turn the bus and the bus isn't turning enough, or he turns it and the back steps out, the electronic stability control kicks in and corrects the motion of the bus."
He says it is also useful for slick roads and sharp turns.
Rudderham adds that there is no extra training required to use either feature.
"We need no training, no nothing. They get in and drive the bus as usual and if they get in a situation where the bus isn't doing what its hope to be doing, then the ESC will intervene," he says.
And Rudderham wants bus drivers to know that they are just as safe as the students are.
"We face a national shortage of school bus drivers and that extra security will hopefully encourage more people to come out and say, 'I want to be a school bus driver.'"
Blue Bird says these features will be on every new bus rolled out this year.