Brain Injury Association of New York State

School Bus Safety

School transportation is one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States.

Facts

Most children hit and killed by cars are playing in the street. Brain injury is the leading cause of deaths among children hit by moving vehicles
According to the national Highway and Traffic Safety Administration school transportation is one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States
Each year approximately 394,000 public school buses travel approximately 4.3 trillion miles to transport 23.5 million children to and from school-related activities

Seat belts on the School Bus

School bus crash data shows that a federal requirement for seat belts on buses would provide little, if any, added protection in a crash
Rather than requiring seat belts, NHTSA decided that the best way to provide crash protection to passengers is through a concept called "compartmentalization." This requires that the interior of large buses provide occupant protection so that children are protected without the need to buckle up. Occupant crash protection is provided by a protective envelope consisting of strong, closely spaced seats that have energy absorbing seat backs.
Small school buses must be equipped with lap or lap/shoulder belts at all designated seating positions since their size and weight are closer to those of passenger cars and trucks

School Bus-Related Crashes

A school bus related crash is a crash which involves, either directly or indirectly, a school bus-type vehicle, or a vehicle functioning as a school bus, transporting children to or from school-related activities
Since 1985, there have been about 426,000 fatal traffic crashes. Less than 0.3 percent of were classified as a school bus-related.
More school-aged pedestrians are killed in the afternoon than in the morning with 43 percent of fatalities occurring in crashes between 3:00 and 4:30 p.m.
From 1986 to 1995, half of the all school-aged pedestrians killed in school bus-related crashes were 5 to 7 years old
Since 1984, 11 passengers per year, on the average, die in school bus crashes
Comparison- in 1995, 23 occupants in a school bus body type vehicle died in a crash. In that same year 8,168 children between the ages of 5 and 20 died as passengers or drivers in all other types of motor vehicles.

School Bus Injury Prevention

Teach your children to: