School bus safety

Every day, more than 23 million children across the country get into those big yellow buses and head to school. October 19th to 23rd marks National School Bus Safety Week and many parents worry about sending off their most precious cargo on the school bus each morning, but riding the bus to school is considered the safest forms of transportation. It is approximately seven times safer than passenger vehicles. Each year 42,000 people are killed in motor vehicle crashes, however, on average just six school-age passengers die while riding a school bus. According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 153 people killed in school bus related crashes in 2008. Sixty-eight percent were occupants of other vehicles involved in the crash; nine percent were school bus passengers, and 13 percent pedestrians. Unfortunately, there are deaths related to school bus accidents, however the percentage is relatively small compared to the total number of fatalities on the roads each year. Of course, no matter the percentages, the goal is to eliminate avoidable deaths. Some suggest that the use of seat belts could help, but NHTSA has not found any data to suggest that children are safer belted than not when riding in school buses.

Read more about School Bus Safety at Book Car Values