The school bus driver of Sam Dent, Dolores Driscoll, is a caring and content woman who enjoys her job as bus driver. Dolores" kind nature is shown when she says, .
By staying away from the cutesy names, sticking with names that were slightly humorous, I was able to get the older kids, especially the boys, who could be curt, to go along with the game, making the ride more cheerful for everyone that way. It was something we could all participate in together, which was a value I tried to promote among younger people. (Banks pg. 6).
It is evident Dolores wants to see these children develop into polite and accepting adults. Speaking of her own children, Dolores says, "Not that I was in a hurry for them to grow up. I just didn't want them to become the kind of men who think of themselves as little boys and then tend to act that way when you need them to act like adults" (Banks pg. 8). This also demonstrates how much Dolores cares for her own children, and for the children she drives to school each morning. After the accident, Dolores views the losses as things which, "always have an end to them and they pass away, and the family endures, just as ours had. The same must hold for a town, I thought" (Banks pg. 223). In comparison to Dolores Driscoll, Billy Ansel, the owner of Sam Dent's auto-body shop, deals with the death of his children in a different way. Dolores tells of Billy's technique for dealing with death prior to the accident when she says, .
Truth is, I don't think he wanted to move through that big empty house alone, once his kids were gone to school, and I believe it particularly pleased him and comforted him, as he drove into town, to catch glimpses of his son and daughter in the school bus, waving at him. Their mother, Lydia, a fairy princess of a woman, died of cancer some four years ago, and Billy took over raising the children by himself. (Banks pg. 27) .
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Prior to the bus accident, Billy Ansel is able to deal with the grief of losing his wife.
