Transporting College Students: A Case Study

Transporting college student-athletes safely is a one of the biggest issues that administrators face today. Failing to provide safe and dependable transportation can leave a school and administrators at risk for a lawsuit. According to Sharp, Moorman, and Claussen (2014) there are four issues that are related to proper transportation, they are the selection of competent drivers, selection of a safe mode of travel, the proper maintenance of vehicles, and proper training of drivers. If an administrator has a competent driver who is properly trained and a safe mode of transportation with proper maintenance, then if there is an accident there is a smaller chance that the school or administrator would be liable. In the case of Clement v. Griffin it appears that Delgado Community College did not have a competent driver of the vanand the driver was not properly trained. The driver did not have a chauffer’s license, which is mandated by Louisiana state law and he was a student coach who had never been given any instructions regarding speed of the vehicle or safety (Sharp, et al, 2014, p. 467). Any time you have a student driving a van, …show more content…
By routinely maintaining tire pressure at 45 p.s.i. rather than the recommended 75 p.s.i. the school did not keep the van in correct working order (Sharp, et al, 2014, p. 476). If a school is going to use vans to transport their athletes, they must make sure those vans are properly maintained and certified to operate. In 2008, a 15-passenger van crashed killing seven members of the Bathurst High School basketball team, and upon investigation, it was found that the van had several mechanical issues and would not have passed a motor vehicle inspection (Wolohan, 2008). In both cases, it seems that the administration should have done a better job of making sure the vans were in proper working order before any student-athlete stepped foot on the