The morning of March 26, 1931, brought a 60-degree climate in Kiowa County, Colorado. The March morning in Kiowa was so warm that 11-year-old Louise Stonebraker was able to leave for Pleasant Hill School with a light sweater instead of her normal jacket. Just hours later, to the surprise of Kiowa and to the horror of citizens across the United States, Stonebraker and her classmates were fighting for survival in blizzard-like conditions.
Nearly 90 years later, what came to be known as the Pleasant Hill school bus tragedy stands as the turning point that brought children’s bus safety to the fore, sparking major regulations that remain in place today. Such regulations include what is now the school bus trademark bright yellow paint job, as well as a uniform code on what the transportation vehicles should include in their design. The revisions and additions to school buses can be traced back to the seemingly pleasant spring morning in rural Colorado.
