School Bus Safety

School bus safety has become a growing concern of parents and adults alike over the last few years. Since the early 70s, school buses have been regulated by the NHTSA. What may surprise most people is that most of the death-related occurrences are from pedestrians or occupants of other vehicles and not those of the children being transported on the bus. About twenty school-age children are killed in school transportation accidents. Five of the students from being in the vehicle at the time of the incident and the other fifteen from crossing or walking near a bus. Of the accidents that happen involving other people, most of the fatalities involve another vehicle or vehicles. An outcry has become more prevalent from those who wish to protect the children being transported. However, the government agency that regulates school bus safety often has to inform people that the school bus itself is fairly safe because of its general design and the fact that it is much larger than other vehicles. If the school bus gets into an accident with almost any other type of vehicle, the school bus usually comes out of it undamaged and the children safe from harm even though seat belts are not used. The lack of seat belts has been a sore point for many drivers of regular vehicles who do not understand the need for seat belts in cars and trucks but that school buses simply do not have to use them. Most of those against seat belts in buses claim that they serve no real purpose because there is almost no way to ensure that all the children wear them as required. Based on studies involving school buses, seat belts do not seem to make the children safer than when not using them. Vehicles on the other hand have extensive data to show that seat belts make a real difference in the event of an accident. One of the main reasons that seat belts are not required on buses is that when a vehicle of such size is hit, it has a longer frame to transmit the impact and it is more than likely moving much slower than the other vehicles. The problem for children on school buses is that other drivers do not stop or slow down when a bus is around and often hit a child that does not understand the dangers of crossing the street. The implementation of new laws and red lights and stop signs being added to school buses has helped with safety but it has not eliminated the problems. Unfortunately, most accidents occur from other vehicles that are trying to get around the bus to avoid dealing with its slow moving travel. A re-education of drivers is perhaps what would make a big difference in school bus safety.	SchoolBuses.info Manufacturers Types Safety Toy School Buses