Statistics

School buses are the safest form of highway transportation.  There are about 440,000 public school buses that travel approximately 5 billion miles each year. Each day school buses carry around 20 million students to school and school-related events. (Accident Facts 1996, National Safety Council)

In 1996, 10 school bus occupants were killed in crashes (2 drivers, 8 passengers).

In 1996, 23 pedestrians were killed in school bus-related crashes.  About two-thirds of school bus-related fatalities happen outside the bus.

For the past 11 years, an average of 35 school-age children died in school bus-related traffic crashes each year (9 school bus occupants and 26 pedestrians).

Recent studies in Florida and Illinois found almost 10,000 incidents (per

day per state) of motorists illegally passing stopped school buses that were loading or unloading children. In Florida, 4.4 percent of the vehicles passed the school bus on the door side of the bus.

Why No Safety Belts?  On school buses, occupant protection is provided by “compartmentalization,” not safety belts.  Compartmentalization is the name for the protective envelope created by strong, closely-spaced seats that have energy-absorbing high seat backs that protect occupants in the event of a crash.

School buses also have other features that contribute to the high level of safety they provide each occupant. Features such as emergency exits, roof structure, fuel systems, and body joint strength make the bus stronger, larger, heavier, and safer than most other vehicles on the road today.