Myth BUS-ted!

Myth BUS-ted!

As a school board member for 10 years, on countless occasions I have had many a parent tell me how (especially in inclement weather) they would prefer to not only drive their little darlings to school in the morning, but also pick them after school in the afternoon. Of course my initial response to them is always, “Why is that?” Their reply is always the same: “Because my kids are safer with me in my soccer van, than with a stranger driving them in a big old school bus.”

Sounds logical, right? After all, who loves and protects your most precious possessions more than you, their parent? Who would take the time to drive them, as safely and securely, as you? Who would be most competent to save them as quickly as you, in the unlikely event of a motor vehicle accident? Who would EMS, police, and fire rescue units respond to more quickly: a two car crash at an intersection in a snow storm, or a school bus full of young children that just collided with another object or vehicle, or perhaps even another school bus? …starting to see my point?

To begin with, according to a recent report published by the National Highway Transportation Safety Authority, today’s school buses are built with one and only one thing in mind: Safety. They are tougher, cleaner and more diligently maintained than ever before. School bus drivers are required to receive special security and medical training, and undergo regular drug and alcohol testing to provide a safe ride for your child, and school bus traffic laws are strictly enforced.

In addition, school bus drivers are required to be trained in student behavior management, participate in pre-employment and random drug and alcohol testing, have frequent driving record checks, are trained in security procedures and emergency medical procedures.

Newer school busses are also much more technologically advanced, with safer size and height, and new safety crash standards. Required equipment such as multi flashing red lights, now using LED for better viewing in poor conditions and greater visibility from afar, cross-view mirrors, reinforced sides, bright color, and stop sign arms, the school busses of today are much safer and stronger than those utilized back when we attended school (growing up in Brooklyn we walked, or took a New York City bus or subway, which wasn’t any safer than a school bus in the 70’s, either!). According to the American School Bus Council, “School buses are designed to be safer than passenger vehicles in avoiding crashes and preventing injury.” Per the U.S. Department of Transportation, “School buses are the safest mode of transportation for getting children back and forth to school.”

Again per the NHTSA, are some interesting facts regarding annual student fatalities during normal school travel hours: On average, 58% of students were killed when traveling by teen drivers. 23% were killed when traveling by adult drivers. 1% were killed when traveling by school bus. Students are about 50 times more likely to arrive at school alive if they take the bus than if they drive themselves or ride with friends. An average of six children are killed in school bus crashes as passengers each year…a figure much smaller than the 42,000 people killed annually in other traffic crashes. “School buses are the safest way for children to get to and from school, period,” says Russ Rader, spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “They’re far safer than walking to school, or even riding in Mom or Dad’s car.”

Nationally, school buses keep an annual estimated 17.3 million cars off the roads that are surrounding schools each morning. Simply put, for every school bus on the road, that is the equivalent of 36 cars. If you consider another seventeen million cars on the road, along with the fact that the majority of motor vehicle accidents occur within three miles of your home, how many more MVA’s would we see, or unfortunately, be a party to?

However, there is one more debate that needs to be addressed, when it comes to school bus safety for kids: should they or shouldn’t they be required to wear seatbelts while riding on a school bus.

Federal regulations passed in 2008 require all buses less than 10,000 pounds to have three-point lap/shoulder belts. However, the larger and much more common school buses are not required to have seat belts installed on the vehicle. Federal legislators have left that decision up to the individual states to decide whether or not the larger buses should be required to as part of their standard equipment.

Opponents of school bus seat belt laws say the additional costs of installing safety belts are cost prohibitive. Equipping school buses with seat belts can cost thousands of dollars per bus. But supporters argue that the expense becomes minuscule when spread over the life span of an average bus.

“If you buy a new school bus, it’s going to last 15 or so years,” says Alan Ross, president of the nonprofit National Coalition for School Bus Safety (NCSBS). “If you crunch the numbers, it comes out to pennies a day throughout the lifetime of that bus.”

Although various states have some sort of legislation in place requiring seat belts on school buses, the states’ laws vary in levels of enforcement; some simply require two-point seat belts to be present on school buses, while others require that all passengers use the more secure, three-point belts. Organizations such as the NCSBS, annually lobby to state legislatures across the country to pass legislation requiring seat belts on school buses, however many states introduce bills but never see them through to fruition. Even though The National PTA and The American Academy of Pediatrics are both in favor of equipping all large school buses with seat belts, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) are not convinced that seat belts would increase safety.

Those in favor of seat belts on school buses say that teaching children to buckle up in any vehicle should be a consistent message. But NAPT President Donald Carnahan says, “Seat belts in cars and lap belts on school buses are completely different safety issues.”

The National Coalition for Seatbelts on School Buses lists the following as reasons why all large school buses should have seatbelts. (Smaller school buses that weigh less than 10,000 pounds are already required to have them):

• If a crash occurs, the use of seat belts will reduce the probability of death and the severity of injuries to children correctly seated in school buses.

• Seat belt usage improves passenger behavior and reduces driver distractions.

• Seat belts offer protection against injuries in rollover or side impact crashes.

• Seat belt usage in school buses reinforces good safety habits.

• The cost to install seat belts is nominal.

Opponents of seat belts on large buses disagree, saying that they are not only unnecessary, but could also be hazardous. According to the NHSTA:

• Seat belts are of no value in the majority of fatal accidents.

• More children are killed around school buses — walking to and from the school bus stop — than inside school buses.

• No data proves conclusively that seat belts reduce fatalities or injuries on school buses.

• School buses are specifically designed with safety in mind. They are heavier and experience less crash force than smaller cars and trucks. School buses also have high padded seats specifically design to absorb impact.

• There is no guarantee that once installed students will use seatbelts. Studies have shown that mixed and improper use of seat belts can increase the risk of injuries.

• There is concern that seat belts could be used as weapons to strike or choke other passengers.

• Money proposed for seat belt installation could be better spent on other safety measures.

Both sides of the debate agree that school bus transportation is one of the safest forms of travel in the U.S. — far safer than riding in a car. The group is currently researching ways to make school buses even safer.

As I mentioned earlier, your child is much safer riding the bus than being driven by you, and if these statistics aren’t enough to persuade you to not allow your kids to be driven to school either by you or any other parent or friend, when you add in factors such as the environmental and financial benefits, it’s hard to find a reason to send your kids to school any other way.

As insurance professionals, we should encourage our clients to not drive their kids to school or allow anyone else to drive them, and to take the bus. Obviously, more cars on the roads equal more accidents, more claims, and higher loss ratios. Although body shops and jobbers that sell to them may not mind the additional fender benders (without injury, of course), those of us whose livelihood isn’t dependent upon auto insurance claims would much prefer safer and less crowded streets…especially those surrounding schools where children are present. Furthermore, safety aside, school buses save approximately 2.3 billion gallons of fuel, which in today’s dollars saves us about $6 Billion and 44.6 billion pounds of CO2.

Well, that’s my latest pontification so until next time, thanks for the chat and “Ciao for now!”