'Way too much responsibility:' School bus driver questions why buses were on the road Wednesday

A Windsor-Essex bus driver says it was unsafe for school buses to be on the road Wednesday.

Chip Daveluy woke up Wednesday thinking for sure there would be a snow day called and said he was surprised when there wasn't a message.

"I got on my radio at one point and said whoever's decision it is to make snow days should be fired because the roads were that bad," said Daveluy. "Kids should not have been standing on the side of the road. Absolutely ridiculous. And school bus drivers making $13.50, $14 an hour. Way too much responsibility."

Kids should not have been standing on the side of the road.- Chip Daveluy, school bus driver

Three school buses full of students either crashed or became stuck in snowy ditches Wednesday, while a fourth was involved in a collision. No injuries were reported.

Daveluy said his biggest concern is the danger for students waiting for the bus. "I'm worried about the kids standing at the bus stop and other drivers sliding off the road and hitting these kids." 

"Ninety-nine point nine per cent of the bus routes in Windsor are on residential streets. Residential streets don't even get plowed," he added. 

CBC News contacted the bus line Daveluy drives for about his concerns, but they declined to comment.

• To cancel or not to cancel: Who makes the 'snow day' call?

• 3 school buses carrying kids end up in snowy ditches, fourth bus in collision

Emma Hussey is general manager of First Student bus lines. She is responsible for reporting road conditions to the Windsor-Essex Student Transportation Services (WESTS) for Area A, which covers the city.

She is also a spotter for the company — spotters drive the bus routes between 5 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. and report back to their bus operator on whether or not conditions are safe for buses to run. 

You have to go by what's happening right at that moment in time.- Emma Hussey, general manager of First Student bus lines

Hussey stands by the decision to run the buses Wednesday. "You have to go by what's happening right at that moment in time," she said. "Right up until the time when we have to make the decision."    

That decision has to be made before 6 a.m. That's when Hussey and the representative from Area B, which covers the county, need to decide whether or not to cancel buses.

Pat Stevenson, owner of G & L Stevenson Transportation, is responsible for Area B. 

"We knew the weather was coming [Wednesday]. We knew what we had on the road at five o'clock in the morning. Road conditions weren't perfect but there were snow plows out there and salt had been dropped in a lot of areas," he said. "From that point of view the expectation was that roads were going to continue to get better."

Stevenson is also a spotter for the company. 

There are six bus companies in Windsor and Essex County, four in the county and two in Windsor. Stevenson said he only contacts WESTS if there is an issue. Gabrielle McMillan, general manager of WESTS, said she was not contacted by operators on Wednesday.   

We wouldn't want to put anybody at risk.- Pat Stevenson, owner of G & L Stevenson Transportation

"We wouldn't want to put anybody at risk, and so we're out there making sure that we're taking a look and making sure that the roads are good. It's a case where we know what we see out there and make those decisions," said Stevenson.

Stevenson said his drivers get paid even if a snow or fog day is called. He said the company only gets a portion of its payment from WESTS, but that that does not factor into the decision making.