A short communication on school bus accidents: a review and analysis

Abstract

School buses are important components of the educational structure of societies worldwide. Children’s safety on school bus trips is first and foremost. Decisions made by bus drivers, traffic authorities, school divisions and parents can have a substantial influence. Each year, school buses are used for an estimated 10 billion student trips in the USA. Every school day, 475,000 school buses transport 25 million children to and from schools and school-related activities. Numerous studies have been carried out on school bus and pupil safety during the last 40 years. One important result that has emerged from these studies is that the school bus is the safest mode of transportation for school children. The numbers of accidents, injuries and fatalities show that more school-aged children die in private cars than in school buses. School bus accidents can be either single or multiple vehicle accidents, and the injuries and fatalities are not confined to the occupants of these vehicles but can also include the occupants of other vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists. This article analyzes school bus accidents in terms of their types, causes and impacts, comparing Canada and the USA. One result that emerges here is that there are more similarities than differences in school bus accidents and the resulting affects.