Iowa CDL DMV Endorsement Bus 1

The top portion of the overhead inside rearview mirror should be positioned to display the top of the bus's rear window. This mirror positioning should allow the driver to see all of the students on the bus, including the heads of the students sitting immediately behind the driver.

The function of an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) is to prevent a vehicle's wheels from locking up when the driver brakes hard on a slippery surface.

Official school bus routes and stops are established by the local school district. Drivers should never change a stop location without the written approval of an appropriate district official.

On a school bus, the overhead inside rearview mirror is mounted directly above the windshield on the driver’s side of the bus. This mirror should be used to monitor students inside the bus.

During the on-road driving test, do not stop, change gears, pass another vehicle, or change lanes while any part of your vehicle is in a railroad crossing.

A school bus's long sides are vulnerable to being pushed by winds. If you must drive in windy conditions, you should maintain a strong grip on the steering wheel, try to anticipate wind gusts, and slow down. If necessary, contact your dispatcher for instructions on how to proceed.

You should finish each exercise with your vehicle in the exact position described by the examiner. You can be penalized for failing to complete an exercise exactly in the manner described by the examiner, potentially resulting in failure of the basic control skills test.

During the on-road driving test, the examiner will be score you on specific driving maneuvers as well as on your general driving behavior. You must drive in a safe and responsible manner; obey all traffic signs, signals, and laws; and not cause an accident or commit a moving violation.

The adjustment of all mirrors on a school bus should always be checked before the bus is driven.

If time permits, before deciding to evacuate a school bus, the driver should contact their dispatcher to explain the situation. The decision to evacuate must be a timely one.

More students are killed each year during loading or unloading of school buses than while riding on school buses. Therefore, it is critical that school bus drivers follow appropriate safety procedures during loading and unloading. This process should never take place without being properly supervised.

When preparing to evacuate a school bus, the driver must quickly determine which of the bus's exits is safest for passengers to use.

In most emergency or crisis situations, students will be safest and easiest to keep under control if they remain on the school bus. Generally, students should be kept on the bus as long as it does not expose them to unnecessary risks or injury.

A school bus driver should not attempt to move a student who has suffered a neck or spinal injury unless the student's life is in immediate danger.

When inspecting a trailer coupling, you should make sure the fifth wheel locking jaws are closed around the shank of the kingpin, not the head of the kingpin.

Anti-lock brakes are meant to keep a vehicle's wheels from locking up during hard applications. If your vehicle's Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) malfunctions, its standard braking functions should still be in place. You should continue to drive and brake in a normal manner.

Students should not occupy the back row of a school bus unless the bus is full. The closer to the front of a bus that students are seated, the safer they will be in the event of a rear-end collision. Students with special needs should sit near the driver.

If a student tries to retrieve a dropped object, they may disappear from the driver's line of sight. This is potentially very dangerous. Rather than retrieve dropped items themselves, students should move to a point of safety outside of the bus's danger zones, get the driver's attention, and wait for the driver to retrieve what has been dropped.

Properly adjusted crossover mirrors on a school bus should allow the driver to see the entire area in front of the bus, from the front bumper at ground level to a point where direct vision is possible. The mirrors should also display the right and left front tires touching the ground, as well as the area from the front of the bus to the service door.

The adjustment of mirrors should be checked prior to the start of any trip.