Nothing done now can undo the tragedy that occurred Nov. 5 when a crash killed two Highland High School students and injured several others, at least two seriously. However, something can be done to prevent a similar tragedy in the future.
The Salt Lake City Board of Education can take steps to make out-of-state trips by students safer. Most of these are matters of common sense.
In the case of the Highland High School tragedy, the students were returning from a debate meet in California when the van they were riding in rolled over in Millard County at 10:20 p.m. According to police reports, the driver, an assistant debate coach, apparently fell asleep at the wheel.
The board ought to consider requiring overnight stays on long trips, as well as requiring that more than one eligible driver ride in the vehicles. Other suggestions that merit serious consideration are to require students to travel in vehicles that carry at least 15 passengers safely and comfortably, and to limit the amount of consecutive hours a driver can be behind the wheel.
And both the school board and the Legislature need to take measures to provide adequate insurance. The $500,000 amount to cover all families involved in an accident is woefully inadequate. One of those injured, a girl who had been in a coma for more than two weeks when her mother addressed the school board last week, faces horrendous medical bills.
The 2000 Legislature did raise the insurance limit to $1 million per incident effective in July of next year, but even that needs to be re-examined in light of life-long care necessitated by some injuries.
Parents have a right to expect schools and school districts to take appropriate measures to make travel to any school-sponsored event safe. When something does go wrong, such as in the tragic Highland High School incident, it often exposes weaknesses that can be remedied.