Safety First
The Facts on School Bus Safety:
- Nearly 40% of fatalities involving the loading and unloading of school buses are related directly to the public’s attitude toward stopped buses. Always stop when you see a stopped school bus with flashing red lights.
- School bus transportation infrastructure is the United States’ largest ground transportation system.
- 54% of all American K-12 students ride school buses in the morning.
- More than 400,000 yellow school buses travel our streets on school days, with nearly 25 million students boarding and deboarding daily.
- The National Transportation Safety Board found that seat belts offer no positive benefits on school buses. They also found that buses with compartmentalization offer extremely safe transportation for students without the need for seat belts.
- More than 100 federal, state, provincial, and local government agencies and industry associations are involved in school transportation in the United States and Canada.
- In 1986, Congress passed the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act, requiring all states to significantly modify their existing licensing, testing, and background requirements for all commercial drivers, including school bus drivers. Anyone wanting to drive a school bus seating more than 16 passengers must have a valid Commercial Driver's License (CDL).
- On average, approximately 4% of the annual cost of child education is spent on pupil transportation.
- The US Department of Transportation requires school buses manufactured after April 1, 1977, to be equipped with a metal cage designed to protect the fuel tank in a direct 30mph collision with a two-ton vehicle.
- Statistically, yellow school buses are 172 times safer than passenger automobiles. The National Safety Council calls school buses the safest form of ground transportation in the United States.