OPTIMAL SPEED LIMITS FOR SCHOOL BUSES ON VIRGINIA'S HIGHWAYS

On Virginia's rural Interstate highways, there is a three-tiered speed limit: 45 mph for school buses, 55 mph for trucks, and 65 mph for other vehicles. On urban Interstate highways, school buses are restricted to 45 mph, but other traffic has a 55-mph speed limit. Speed theory suggests that restricting school buses to slower speeds will limit the potential severity of accidents that occur but that slower speeds may increase the probability that a school bus will become involved in a crash with a faster-moving vehicle. Forty-one states allow school buses to travel at least 55 mph on the Interstate highway system; 22 states allow school buses to travel 65 mph on rural Interstate highways. Surveys of school administrators, school bus drivers, and other interested groups indicated that a majority favor raising the speed limits for school buses to 55 mph on the rural Interstate highway system but retaining the 45-mph maximum limit on urban Interstate highways and on other systems. In 4 years there were only 17 school bus crashes on Virginia's Interstate highways, which resulted in only six injuries and no fatalities. These crashes were not attributable to the difference in speed limits or to collisions between heavy trucks and school buses. In addition, because Virginia's school buses are equipped with a speed governor that limits the maximum speed of the bus, a higher speed limit would require raising the speed allowed by the governor, which could have a deleterious effect on school bus safety on the primary and secondary systems. Thus, it was concluded that there are no compelling reasons for Virginia to raise the maximum speed limits for school buses from 45 mph and that there are reasons that caution against raising the speed limit.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1991/1318/1318-002.pdf
• Record URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=OPTIMAL+SPEED+LIMITS+FOR+SCHOOL+BUSES+ON+VIRGINIA%27S+HIGHWAYS&author=J.+Jernigan&author=C.+Lynn&publication_year=1991
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1318, Highway Systems, Human Performance, and Safety 1991. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Authors:
  • Jernigan, Jack D
  • Lynn, Cheryl W
• Publication Date: 1991

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 8-13
• Monograph Title: Highway systems, human performance, and safety, 1991
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 1318
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crashes; Governors (Devices); Rural areas; School buses; Speed control; Speed limits; Urban areas
• Identifier Terms: Interstate Highway System
• Geographic Terms: Virginia
• Old TRIS Terms: Speed governor
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I73: Traffic Control;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00621657
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309051584
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Apr 30 1992 12:00AM