Mom-agination: Nervous about putting your child on the school bus? Don’t be!

When my oldest child went to kindergarten, I fretted for weeks about whether or not he should take the school bus. I think what terrified me the most was that he would be out of my control. I later learned the school bus is the safest way to get your child to school – here’s why:

The Stats
Statistics show that the safest way to transport a child to school is in a school bus. Fatal crashes involving occupants are extremely rare events, even though school buses serve daily in every community – a remarkable 8.8 billion student trips annually. Every school day, some 440,000 yellow school buses transport more than 24 million children to and from schools and school-related activities. Said another way to give perspective to the huge magnitude of pupil transportation, the equivalent of the populations of Florida, Massachusetts and Oregon ride on a school bus twice every day – almost always without a serious incident.

Why School Buses are so Safe
The Bus Itself
The following requirements are key federal safety mandates for school buses:

• Special passenger crash protection. Well-padded, high back, energy-absorbing seats, as well as special requirements for wheelchair restraint systems. These seating systems provide “automatic protection” for young passengers. Additionally, school bus interiors are designed to reduce the chances of injury caused by sharp edges or body panels that may tear loose in a crash.
• Better brakes. Brake systems that enable the school bus to stop in a shorter distance than other large vehicles.
• Warning lights. Lights and reflective devices that indicate when the bus is loading and unloading passengers.
• Special mirrors. Additional mirrors that allow the driver to see all areas directly in front of and along both sides of the school bus.
• Swing out stop arms. A stop arm in newer buses that extends out to the left side of the bus to warn motorists when the bus is loading or unloading passengers.
• Emergency exits. Multiple emergency exits consistent with the capacity of the school bus.
• Rollover protection. Rollover protection that reduces the likelihood of a roof collapse and allows for operable emergency exits even after the roof is subject to extreme forces.
• Fuel system protection. Protected fuel tanks, and fuel pump and fuel delivery system.

Bus Drivers
School bus drivers are an integral part of the safe transportation of school children. While the structure of the school bus provides excellent protection in the event of a crash, it is the skill and performance of the highly trained, professional school bus driver that often prevents crashes. School buses always are operated by drivers with a Commercial Drivers License (CDL), required by the U.S. Department of Transportation, and who have received special school bus driver training required by the state. In addition, no one can drive a school bus without first passing drug and alcohol screening and any required law enforcement background checks.

Why Don’t School Buses have Seat Belts?
This is not an oversight. Studies have been conducted on the potential benefits of seat belts on school buses. The results are that based on all of the real-world facts, today’s school buses provide an extremely high level of crash protection for student passengers considering all the types of crashes involving school buses. There are no aggregate statistical data to suggest that a safety problem exists in large school buses that the installation of lap belts would solve. In fact, there is growing concern among safety professionals around the world over the use of lap belts as a form of passenger restraint for young or small children. In August 1998, at a public hearing held by the National Transportation Safety Board, five international experts in the field of motor vehicle occupant crash protection expressed their concern about the appropriateness of lap belts in providing crash protection to small children. The unanimous opinion was that lap belts were not a good means of providing crash protection to small children because small childrens’ bone structure, particularly their hips, is still developing through grade school.

Once kids are on the bus, they would be responsible for properly buckling themselves, increasing the liklihood that children wouldn’t do it or would buckle improperly.

Clever Tips for Safety at the Bus Stop!

What is the most dangerous part of the school bus ride? The bus stop! Children are at greatest risk when they are getting on or off the school bus. Most of the children killed in bus-related crashes are pedestrians, five to seven years old, who are getting on or off the bus. They are hit by the school bus or by motorists illegally passing a stopped bus.

Young children are most likely to be hit because they:

• hurry to get on or off the bus,
• act before they think and have little experience with traffic,
• assume motorists will see them and will wait for them to cross
• don’t always stay within the bus driver’s sight.

Here are some recommended tips and real-world practices to ensure children get on and off the school bus safely:

• Children should not arrive at the Bus Stop too early. Kids get restless and will likely start running around or start up games to combat the boredom. I find that when I arrive too early to the bus stop, inevitably someone yells “Tag! You’re it!” and then kids disperse in all directions.
• An adult should wait with children until the bus arrives. This is particularly difficult for working parents who need to be somewhere on time. Take turns with other parents that you trust to monitor the Bus Stop before and after school.
• There are blind spots where the bus driver can lose sight of a child: FRONT DANGER ZONE: It’s never safe to walk close to the front of the bus. Children should walk five giant steps ahead of the bus before crossing in front of it. SIDE DANGER ZONE: Children should always stay three giant steps away from the side of the bus. REAR DANGER ZONE: Never walk behind the school bus.
• Remind children NEVER to approach a car or driver of a car asking for directions or answer questions from strangers. Of course, if a parent is always at the bus stop, the adult should field strangers in cars.
• Remind children to stay to the side of the roadway. Most bus stops are at or near corners, which can be dangerous. This sounds obvious, but once kids get into play, they get distracted and aren’t vigilant about watching for passing cars.
• Kids will and do play in the yards closest to their bus stop. I and other parents encourage that they stay in the grass out of harm’s way. To be a good neighbor, we have asked permission for our kids to run about in these yards from the homeowners. Sometimes my son and I toss baseballs while waiting for the bus. This way his attention is focused on me, he is backed against the grass so that if a ball is missed, I am the one to go out into the street to retrieve it.
• Older children can and do bully younger children. Listen to the stories your children tell about activity at the bus stop, they are probably true. Arranging for an adult to be at the bus stop will prevent this from happening. Tell your child what is acceptable behavior and what is not. Encourage your child to tell you anything and everything.
• Teach your child to ask the driver for help if they drop something near the bus. If a child stoops to pick up something, the driver cannot see them. The bus could accidentally hit them. A durable book bag or backpack helps keep loose items together.
• Stay away from the bus wheels, and watch for moving cars.

If you think a bus stop is in a dangerous place, talk with your school office or transportation director about changing the location. The location of the bus stop is not an immovable, inflexible decision and everyone has the same goal – for kids to be safe. I know a parent who complained and succeeded in having an additional stop in her neighborhood added to the route – right in front of her house.