By Dave Millhouser

Few things are more irritating than driving on a college campus.

Students blindly cross streets without a glance -- because the rules say cars and other vehicles must stop.

One cant help but wonder what happens to these young people when they enter the "real world." Their life expectancy on Boston streets would be about 30 seconds if they persisted in their lackadaisical ways.

Our society often addresses problems by adding layers of laws.

There is danger aplenty in assuming that will always work. Sometimes rules dont reflect real life, and folks ignore them, not only eroding respect for authority but doing little to reduce the problem the law was intended to ameliorate. Everyone I know jaywalks occasionally.

Even when laws are well conceived, it only takes a couple of bad (or careless) actors to wreak havoc.

Mom was right: "Look both ways before crossing the street." I want to be the beneficiary of anyone who blindly believes traffic stops for crosswalks. Individuals who assume rules really protect them are fair game for Darwin.

We also have grown increasingly dependant on technology to keep us safe: antilock and disk brakes, automatic traction control, stability systems, backup cameras, event recorders, GPS, and a Partridge in Pear Tree.

Every one of these gizmos (other than the partridge) can make a significant contribution to safety, but if you trust them too much, each offers the opportunity for mayhem. Many have been mandated by government.

Last summer a friend died diving on a shipwreck. After a tiring trip from Massachusetts to North Carolina, on the first dive he mistook his backup mouthpiece for his main air supply. On deep dives some divers carry a small "pony" tank as a redundant air supply for emergencies, and my friend descended breathing off the pony by mistake.

The air in the small tank ran out just as he reached the bottom, and between fatigue and narcosis, he apparently was unable to switch to the full tank. The technology he carried for safety effectively did him in. Lest you think this is an isolated case, this is the third time it has happened to folks I know.

Technology, like regulation, is a two-edged sword. Properly used (and maintained), it contributes a great deal to safety; trust it too much, however, and it may punish you.

If my friend hadnt been tired, perhaps his judgment wouldnt have been impaired. If the driver who hit the underpass in Syracuse, N.Y., had looked out the windshield, instead of at his GPS

Regulations, no matter how well conceived and well intentioned, will never completely compensate for bad behavior. Technology cant overcome poor training.

In real life it still boils down to hiring good people, training them well and keeping an eye on them.

Your future and that of all your employees is in their hands. If theyre good, cherish them; if they create problems, try squishing them into shape. Failing that, you have to let them go. Shrinking your business is better than losing it.

New technology and regulations can help in that process but, as an industry, we cant trust it to get the job done. The public needs to understand that too.

If theyre spending big bucks on a charter, it might not be enough to shop price, or look up carriers on a website (even a government-run site).

At the recent UMA Motorcoach Expo, a well-intended official challenged us to go a year with NO fatalities because the airlines keep doing it.

Please understand, Im against death, but airline pilots operate in a completely different world. They do not fly their planes surrounded by unskilled, undisciplined and sometimes crazed drivers. They have controllers, who are monitoring their every move and directing their every turn (as opposed to poor signage and road design that often contributes to bus accidents). Remember the Bluffton crash? Airplanes also rarely have to jockey for position at toll booths, exit ramps and rush-hour traffic.

Commercial airliners have two pilots to handle a workload that is normally concentrated in the takeoff and landing of a flight. Flight attendants handle the customers.

Cruise control is NOT automatic pilot, and from the beginning of a trip to the end, coach drivers are usually alone, working hard.

Two things Im struggling to say here: No amount of regulation or technology is enough to make us safe; it all boils down to drivers judgments.

Maturity needs to be critical criteria in the hiring and management process because its the stuff that happens away from your facility that matters. Mechanical defects are bad, logging violations worse, but usually its speeding, tailgating, distractions, failing to get rest, and sudden lane changes that end up hurting people. Its easier to make a good person a good driver, than vice versa.

And, we need officials who truly understand our industry, and promulgate regulations and technology that reflects the real world, rather than responding with knee-jerk reactions to highly visible but atypical accidents.

Have you noticed that older people hustle in crosswalks so as not to hold up traffic, while younger ones tend to meander? Each is following the rules but the old folks are demonstrating judgment.

At my age "hustle" and "meander" have merged into "waddle."

Dave Millhouser is a bus industry marketing consultant and freelance writer. Contact him by email at Davemillhouser@gmail.com.