IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL ISSUES INVOLVING SCHOOL BUS SAFETY

There are around 8500 annual injuries to students due to crashes or accidents involving school bus transportation. Although school bus transportation is a relatively safe mode of transportation, with occupant fatality rates much lower than passenger cars, renewed attention has addressed safety concerns of this mode of transportation. This is because it involves children, who are a precious resource of our nation's future. This study was conducted to identify the critical safety concerns involved in school bus transportation so that countermeasures could later be focused on the most important safety concerns. Based on a review of the existing literature, the safety concerns identified were illegal passing of a stopped school bus by other motorists, use of nonconforming vehicles (vans), handrail snagging, school bus driver training, licensing and retention, student discipline and supervision, students with special needs, routing procedures, standees and overcrowding, mechanical and equipment concerns, evacuation drills and emergency exits, and seat belts (lap belts). A survey was carried out to determine the perceived significance of various safety concerns in school bus transportation from the school bus drivers' perspective. It was decided to survey school bus drivers because there was little available literature to identify safety concerns from the perspective of these frontline participants. The survey was conducted in the Alachua, Orange and Pinellas school districts of Florida. It was found that school bus drivers' perception of safety concerns closely correlate with findings reported in the existing literature. The study also revealed that school bus drivers perceived illegal passing by other motorists, student misbehavior on board the bus and at stops, and school bus backing up to be the issues of primary concern.

• Record URL:
  https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/15000/15700/15741/PB2000100569.pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by the Southeastern Transportation Center, Region IV
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Florida, Gainesville

  Transportation Research Center, P.O. Box 116580
  Gainesville, FL  United States  32611-6580
• Authors:
  • Appachu, D
  • Elias, A M
  • Stephens, B
  • Wallace, C E
  • Gan, A
• Publication Date: 1999-5

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 64 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Backing (Driving); Behavior; Crowds; Disciplines; Emergency exits; Equipment; Evacuation; Fatalities; Injuries; Licensing; Passing; Persons with disabilities; Safety; School bus drivers; School bus passengers; School buses; Seat belts; Students; Traffic crashes; Training; Vans
• Uncontrolled Terms: Handrails
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Highways; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Safety and Human Factors; Society; Vehicles and Equipment; I90: Vehicles;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00782277
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Report
• Files: UTC, NTL, TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 20 2001 12:00AM