In early May, Gov. Robert Bentley signed an act proposed by the Alabama Department of Education, mandating all school bus drivers pass a physical examination before the next school year in 2012-2013.

The mandate came about from concerns following a dangerous incident in Huntsville, where one school bus driver suffered a heart attack while driving.

The deadline for all drivers to have an exam done by a licensed physician is six days before the first day of school for Dallas County and Selma City Schools. The state is mandating that these exams be completed and turned in by Aug. 14. No one is excluded from taking the exam either: current drivers, substitute drivers and even any coaches or teachers that will have to operate a bus, all have to check into a physician’s office this summer.

“We just have to follow the requirements and whatever the school system mandates,” Allen Shelton, supervisor for Dallas County School’s transportation said. “So far (the bus drivers) are all complying — matter of fact, all of them have been pretty anxious to go to the doctor and get it over with.”

The county employs 78 full-time bus drivers, covering three transportation zones.

Shelton said he thinks this mandate will have a positive outcome for the Dallas County School System.

“I think in the short and the long-term this will be good because if there are underlying problems we need to know about them and then how to treat them accordingly,” he said.

The mandate will affect Selma City Schools on a much smaller level according to Ray Mathiews, Director of Operations for Selma City Schools. He said their system only has transportation for students with disabilities and special needs.

The form that bus drivers must print out or pick up from the school is a two-page form that asks 13 questions about the participant’s health. The questions are yes and no, and question the driver’s ability to hear properly, react with digits and limbs and many ask about diseases.

Once the form is completed and turned in, Shelton said the question of whether the driver is fit to drive or not is, “the doctor’s call.”