Transporting Poles on School Bus?

[dean_of_admissions]

Last week, for the first time in my 12 years of coaching, I had a bus driver complain about our pole vaulting tube being in the aisle of the bus. He made us take all the poles out individually and put them underneath the seats, where they slid around the dirty floor and were stepped on by athletes. He claimed it was a safety hazard and against the law to have anything in the aisles. However, we've transported our poles in the aisles like that for years. That's the way we transported them in college on the coach busses, too. And no one has ever said anything. I asked other coaches at our last meet, and they all said they do the same. Everyone seems to put their poles are in a tube, and put that tube in the aisle of the bus. In most cases, that is the only way they can fit. Has anyone had a similar situation where someone complained about the poles being in the way, or somehow against the law? Can anyone point me to something I can show the bus driver that would allow us to put our vaulting tube down the aisle like we always have?

[vaultdad]

No, it's not generally illegal to have a pole bag in the bus aisle. You can't block the rear door, and you might want to strap it to 2 seat legs to prevent shifting.

And you might want to get a new driver, or have your AD explain it clearly to the existing one.