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School Bus Safety Issues
School Bus Safety Issues
School bus safety and the lack of seat belts on buses is an issue that has been raised by many parents. To answer some of these concerns we are providing the following information and statistics. This information will serve to inform parents of the actual facts concerning School Bus safety.
Death and injuries
School bus transportation is the safest form of ground transportation. In terms of injuries and fatalities, school buses afford school children an effective and safe means of transportation to and from school and school related activities. School buses are significantly safer than other means of transportation (mainly passenger cars) normally used to transport school age children. According to the National Safety Council's Accident Facts (1996), in 1995, fatality rates per hundred million passenger miles were 1.12 for passenger cars and 0.04 for school buses. Also in 1995, passenger cars were involved in 73.3 percent of all traffic crashes; whereas school buses were involved in only .2 percent of all fatal crashes. There are three times as many children killed as pedestrians at the bus stop (about 28 per year) or occupants (about 10 per year).
Why is the risk of death on a school bus so low?
The bus is larger than most other vehicles on the road, so the crash forces experienced by the occupants are relatively low. Second, while buses travel millions of miles every year, most of these miles are during low risk daylight hours and along familiar routes. Buses are conspicuous, so other drivers are aware of them, which helps cut the risks.
School buses also provide a high level of safety through the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) regulating the construction of the vehicles. The (NHTSA) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration instituted (or substantially upgraded) several school bus crash worthiness standards in 1974, including body joint strength, roll-over structure, and seat construction, among other things.
These improvements to seat construction standards (FMVSS 222) have greatly reduced the injuries that were caused by impact with the seat back itself.
Compartmentalization
This combination, of high padded seat back and narrow seat spacing, creates a compartment within which each occupant is confined in a crash. This is called "Compartmentalization." It protects the passenger by reducing the crash forces on the occupants and replaces the need for safety belts. The National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) have confirmed the effectiveness of "Compartmentalization" through independent studies they conducted.
Seat Belts and School Buses
The issue of seat belts and school buses continues to raise many questions. While there are no concrete answers, there are some guidelines that were that were used when considering putting seat belts on school buses. FMVSS 222 "School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection" (Effective April 1, 1977) The standard requires that on larger buses (gross vehicle weight above 10,000 pounds) protection would be provided by compartmentalization. Small school buses (gross vehicle weight under 10,000 pounds) the standard states that they must be equipped with lap belts at all designated passenger seating positions. This is because in smaller buses the passengers have injury risks similar to those in passenger cars. For school bus manufactured on or after Sept. 1, 1991, the manufacturers have the option of installing either lap or lap/shoulder belts at all designated seating positions.
Recommendations from the NAS stated that the overall potential benefits of mandating seat belts on large buses were not sufficient to justify a federal requirement. They further stated that the funds required might be better spent on other school bus safety programs and devices that could save more lives and reduce more injuries. It was recommended that a larger share of school bus safety effort be directed to improving the safety of school bus loading zones.
Conclusion and summary
This information is provided so that parents and guardians of school age children make informed decisions regarding school bus safety and utilization of school bus transportation.
More information is available through our CPS Technician, Officer Frederick Hill. See the information provided on the Child Seat Safety page
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