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Transportation

School Bus Safety

Updated January 2008

Millions of children rely on school buses to transport them to and from school and school related activities. This form of transportation is very safe. On average, only 6 passengers die each year in school bus crashes. In comparison, each year approximately 2,000 children are killed in motor vehicle crashes.  The federal government has established 35 safety standards to help ensure safe school bus transportation and states are free to pass even stricter regulations.  One area still up for debate is that of occupant protection on school buses. Although safety belts provide excellent protection in passenger vehicles, the effectiveness of safety belts on school buses is unknown because the effectiveness depends upon the type of restraint, how it is used and the type of crash. The federal government does not require the installation of seat belts on school buses.  California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Louisiana have passed some variation of a seat belt law for school buses. In 2006, 10 states introduced bills that would require school buses to have seat belts installed, none of the bills passed.

Publications

• "Traffic Safety and Public Health: State Legislative Action 2007," Transportation Series No. 32, December 2007, by Melissa Savage, Matt Sundeen, and Anne Teigen.
• "Traffic Safety and Public Health: State Legislative Action 2006," Transportation Series No. 31, March 2007, by Melissa Savage, Matt Sundeen and Jeanne Mejeur.
• "Traffic Safety and Public Health: State Legislative Action 2005," Transportation Series No. 21, December 2005, by melissa Savage, Matt Sundeen and Jeanne Mejeur.
• "Traffic Safety and Public Health: State Legislative Action 2004," Transportation Series No. 20, December 2004.

Other Links

• NCSL/NHTSA Traffic Safety Legislation Database
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• National Transportation Safety Board
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's new report on School Buses.
• Report on bus crashworthiness from the National Transportation Safety Board.
• National School Transportation Association
• School Transportation News
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration/NCSL Legislative Tracking
• School Bus Fleet Magazine
• National Association of School Directors for Pupil Transportation
• National Safety Council

NCSL Contact

Melissa Savage
Anne Teigen

 Traffic Safety page

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