How Safe
By Diana Nauss
Cap Times Contributor
DSNSOOB@PSU.EDU
School buses are ranked seven
times safer than any motor ve
hicle on the road that is less than
10,000 pounds. In the United
States, approximately 450,000
public school buses travel over
4.3 billion miles. Pennsylvania
accounts for over 300 million of
the miles traveled in one year by
school buses.
School buses are safer compared
to small motor vehicles because
of size, design, compartmental
ization, and they are one of the
only motor vehicles that have a
personal traffic control system.
This includes features such as the
stop sign, swing arm, fog light,
and emergency door. Compart
mentalization is the only reason
that allows school buses to not
have seat belts.
Pennsylvania only requires seat
belts on school buses less than
10,000 pounds, unlike neighbor
ing states New York and New Jer
sey that require seat belts in every
school bus, no matter what size.
Every year in the United States,
there are over 815 fatalities re
lated to school transportation.
Seventy-five percent of all school
transportation related fatalities
are due to vehicle transportation
of students, not from school bus
es, 22 percent of fatalities are due
to accidents involving students
walking or bicycling, and 2 per
cent of fatalities are due to school
bus transportation.
School buses are ranked seven
times safer than any motor ve
hicle transportation on the road,
including cars, vans, small trucks,
and motorcycles. In the United
States, approximately 450,000
public school buses travel over
4.3 billion miles to transport over
23.5 million children every year.
Pennsylvania accounts for over
300 million of the miles trav
eled in one year by school buses.
School buses are a multi-use ve
hicle that transports students not
only to and from school, but to
sports, games, camps, competi
tions, and other activities. They
are one of the most widely used
vehicles in the world.
Many important features on a
school bus that attribute to the
safety of passengers include the
stop sign located on the side of
every bus, automatic swing arm
in front of the bus, fog light on
top of the bus, and emergency exit
on the back of the bus. School
buses are literally a large vehicle
with it’s very own traffic control
system. Unlike cars, vans, small
is School Bus Transportation?
buses, trucks, and other light
motor vehicles less than 10,000
pounds, which still require a seat
belt, a full length school bus has
compartmentalization.
Compartmentalization refers to
the distribution of crash forces
experienced by passengers. This
is a vital feature that makes the
safety standards of buses better
than other motor vehicles and be
without the requirement of hav
ing seatbelts and booster seats
for children under 8 years old.
School buses of many different
sizes and styles are crash tested
by the NHTSA, National High
way Traffic Safety Administra
tion, every couple of years into
barriers at different angles with
crash dummies, just like crash
tests performed on cars. These
tests have concluded that seat
belts on a school bus would not
help passengers significantly.
With the strong energy absorbing
seat backs, all of the seats close
ly-spaced, height specific, and
padding specific, a seat belt was
concluded through testing to be
an unnecessary safety feature.
“In a head-on collision, a seat belt
ed child in a school bus is thrown
forward, but the lap belts hold the
lower torso in place, forcing the
upper body to pivot around the
belt. This puts the brunt of the
impact on the head and neck as
they strike the rear of the seat in
front of them. The backlash of
the collision then forces the head
and neck to snap backward. Con
versely, an unbelted child strikes
the padded seat in front with their
entire body and the crash forces
are spread out over a larger part of
the body,” said Danielle Klinger,
Community Relations Coordina
tor for the Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Transportation.
“Compartmentalization is the
ideal protection for our children
because it provides a passive pro
tection for each passenger. But
for compartmentalization to be
in effect, students must be seated
at all times when the bus is in
motion,” said Klinger. Children
like to turn sideways to engage in
conversation with friends, switch
seats while the bus is in motion,
lean partially in the isle, stand up
on school buses, sit without their
feet on the floor, and more.
If Pennsylvania required seat
belts on all school buses, like
neighboring states New York and
New Jersey, there would be a great
amount of money needed. There
would be a need for more buses,
bus drivers, money for maintain
ing seatbelts, and fees for seat
belt installation, Seatbelts would
also limit the amount of students
sitting on school buses two pas
sengers per seat. Seatbelts, un
like compartmentalization, would
help save passengers if a bus was
to roll over.
A lot of mixed controversy sur
rounds the issue of safety belts
inside the school community.
While talking to parents from
Saint Catherine Laboure School
and Lawton Elementary School
in Swatara Township, many dif
ferent reactions were received
when asked if seatbelts should
be installed on all school buses in
Pennsylvania. Lauren Dancer, 28,
felt it would benefit her daughter
Mia, 6, who is riding a school bus
for her first year.
“Unfortunately, in today’s world
there are enough dangers and
threats, even just in elementary
school. I don’t see why taking
this extra precaution in keeping
our children safe could hurt al
though the cost to do so, as well
as to budget this money, I would
think that the seatbelts would be
money better spent. She’s so tiny
and I just feel she would be bet
ter with a seatbelt. Her feet can’t
even touch the ground yet sitting
in a seat” said Dancer.
“I agree for the most part (if seat
belts should be on school buses), I
mean that would be a lot of money
spent on seatbelts. That money
could go toward other things for
the school like books and equip
ment. I wouldn’t be against it if
the State decided to put seatbelts
on, but just don’t think they really
need it yet being that I never hear
anything about school bus crashes
really. You hear more about stu
dents getting shot in schools. The
money I think should go towards
something else for my kids,” said
Chris Dooley, parent of two chil
dren, Mason,s, and Natalya,9,
who both ride the school bus.
Both schools feature all day kin
dergarten. The range of students
on school buses in Pennsylva
nia can range from kindergarten
through 12th grade.
“The money would be better spent
on classes advising or teaching
kids about exiting school bus
es and getting on school buses
safely. That is where majority of
the fatalities take place in school
bus related incidents. It’s when
the child is getting on or off the
bus,” said Sam Richie, Regional
Program Manager for the Na
tional Highway Traffic Safety
Administration. Every year in
the United States, there are over
815 fatalities that are related to
school transportation. Out of the
815 fatalities, 75 percent of fatali
ties are from passenger car trans
portation to and from school, 22
percent due to students walking
or bicycling, and 2 percent are
due to school bus transportation.
The average amount of fatalities
due to school bus transportation
is less than 16 fatalities per year.
The NHTSA believes the im
provement of loading zones for
passengers of school buses is
where improved safety measures
are really necessary. Majority
of fatalities occur outside of the
school bus are most commonly
due to motorists not obeying traf
fic laws and happen within 15 feet
of the school bus. In Pennsylva
nia it’s a law while driving to stop
when a school bus has made a
stop. The number of school bus
related fatalities in loading zones
continues to increase as driv
ers of motor vehicles fail to stop
and illegally drive past. Many
children are also killed because
of bus drivers not able to see stu
dents fully around the outside of
the bus. Children climb under
the bus to retrieve fallen items
that have rolled under the bus, or
run up along side of a bus in the
school bus driver’s blind spot, an
area referred to by drivers as a
place out of sight, or behind the
bus. Safety classes have featured
tips for educating children about
school buses.
American Red Cross features
seven tips for school bus safety
that have been featured in many
school bus safety programs. First,
line up facing the school bus door,
not along the side of the school
bus, 2nd Don’t play in the street
while waiting for the school bus,
3rd carry your belongings in a
backpack or book bag, 4th never
reach under a school bus to get
anything that has fallen under the
bus, sth after exiting the school
bus move immediately onto the
sidewalk, out of the way of traf
fic, 6th, wait for a signal from the
bus driver before you cross the
street, and 7th walk at least ten
steps in front of the bus driver can
see you, and never cross the street
behind the school bus.
Since 1997, Penn DOT has prac
ticed Operation Safe Stop once a
year, every third week of Octo
ber during National School Bus
Safety Week, to help increase the
safety of loading zones around
school buses. During this time
contractors, law enforcement,
school transportation directors,
and school bus drivers come to
gether as a team to report viola
tions of motor vehicles not obey
ing the school bus stop law.
The witnessing of a motor vehi
cle failing to stop for school buses
are reported to law enforcement,
investigated, and then issued a
citation. Out of the citations writ
ten, 70 percent of the drivers are
convicted as charged. Over 1,000
convictions occur each year aided
by Operation Safe Stop in Penn
sylvania. Drivers charged with a
conviction must then pay a $250
fine, serve a 60 day mandatory
driver’s license suspension with
no allowance for an occupational
limited license, and five points
added to their driver’s license.
“Though this seems kind of harsh,
a continuous raise in the price of
a fine for violating the School
Bus Stop'Law could maybe help
to lower the amount of drivers
illegally passing stopped school
buses,” said Michael Martin, Ex
ecutive Director for the National
Association for Pupil Transpor
tation. The $250 fine amount
increased from $lOO in the past
four years.
The School Bus Stopping Law,
though it is the greatest contrib
uting factor for the number of fa
talities in school bus-related inci
dents, factors based on the actions
of school bus drivers and con
tractors has also raised an issue
among niany j/ears for the U.S.
Department of Transportation.