Auburn University Industrial and Systems Engineering doctoral candidate, Yousif Abulhassan, and a group of his fellow research assistants recently conducted research at Oak Mountain Elementary to determine the physical requirements to operate and evacuate through school bus emergency exits.

Yousif Abulhassan and his research team spent time measuring school bus evacuation times of elementary students through various scenarios. The purpose of this research was twofold.  One was to see how long it takes students to evacuate a school bus with and without verbal directions and prompting from the driver. The other was to determine if the current emergency exits on school buses provide adequate emergency evacuation times.

Strength capabilities and physical characteristics of Oak Mountain Elementary students were measured to determine if they are capable of opening the rear emergency door of a school bus in a rolled over orientation. The students also practiced evacuating a school bus on its side using a controlled school bus mock-up.

“I believe school buses are the safest mode of transportation for our students,” said Abulhassan “My goal is to make them even safer.”