Our Most Important Cargo Deserve More

School buses transport 26 million students, our nation’s most important cargo, every day. Thankfully, school buses are the safest vehicles on the road — children who ride a school bus are 70% more likely to get there safely, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

However, school bus-related accidents do happen, and, tragically, can result in injury and death. From 2007–2016, 281 school-age children died in school transportation related crashes, which averages to about seven children a year, states NHTSA.

Preventing school-bus-related accidents is a priority for everyone. Fortunately, new technology, best practices in school bus safety routines, and revised standards for school bus safety are all conjoining to make school bus transportation as safe as possible. After speaking with fleet operators nationwide, and aggregating recent research reports on the school bus industry, the BusRight team outlined various safety measures below.

Seat Belts

Seat belts on school buses have long been debated. Conventional wisdom states that “compartmentalization,” (closely packed seats with energy-absorbing seat backs), protect children when school buses crash. There is also concern that seat belts make it difficult to evacuate school buses in an emergency.

However, in the wake of two deadly 2016 crashes, opinions on seat belts are changing. For the first time, the National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that all new buses be equipped with lap and shoulder belts.

Fire Suppression Systems

School bus fires occur at an alarming rate — 1–2 a day. In response to a recent U.S. Department of Transportation study documenting the more than 380 reported school bus fires every year, the NTSB recently recommended installing engine fire suppression systems in new buses and said all in-service school buses should be retrofitted and equipped with fire suppression systems.

School bus fire suppression systems are activated when the temperature reaches a specified degree. These systems run across the engine, axle, and body of the frame and release a mist that extinguishes the fire. It also alerts the bus driver that there’s a fire.

Cameras

Disciplinary incidents such as fighting, bullying, and the possession of a weapon don’t only happen in our schools. They also occur on our school buses. Cameras placed inside school buses are an essential deterrent to such incidents. They not only identify students who engage in these behaviors, but also reveal the circumstances that led to the behavior. Additionally, cameras serve as a second set of eyes for the driver, so she can keep her attention on the road.

Fleet operators are also using cameras to discourage drivers from illegally passing stopped school buses by implementing school bus stop-arms. These high-definition cameras photograph the drivers and license plates of automobiles that ignore stop-arms. With some systems, this information is immediately relayed to law enforcement.

The importance of stop-arm cameras, (and extended stop-arms), in deterring the illegal passing of stopped school buses can’t be overstated. Data show that children are most at risk of being injured when boarding or exiting a school bus. However, the number of drivers who commit stop-arm violations increases every year. In 2019, during a one-day count, school bus drivers in 38 states recorded 95,319 stop-arm violators, according to the State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services.

Alternative Fuel Buses

Of the approximately 450,000 school buses that travel our streets daily, the majority run on diesel and release tons of greenhouse gases into the air — an effect that not only harms the environment, but also hurts the children on the bus. Recent studies show that children riding on old diesel buses suffer from more pulmonary illnesses, are absent more often, and score lower on tests.

The school bus industry is slowly adopting clean fuels. 40% of the buses that run on diesel currently use clean diesel technology, which significantly reduces diesel’s harmful emissions. Furthermore, a School Bus Fleet survey showed that 16% of buses sold in 2017 used gasoline; 6%, propane; and 1%, compressed natural gas. Less than 1% of school buses sold were electric buses, which have zero emissions and are the best for children and the environment.

School Bus Lighting

Another tool in the arsenal against school bus boarding and exiting accidents is LED (light-emitting diodes) lighting. LEDs, which are more radiant than incandescent bulbs, are activated with the bus’s flashing lights and shine an intense beam in front of the drivers’ forward wheel. This makes it easier for bus drivers to see students in darkness, snow, or fog.

LED lighting is also being used to illuminate the license plates of drivers who illegally pass stopped buses.

Several states have already included LEDs in their school bus lighting standards, and the 17th National Congress on School Transportation may follow suit at its 2020 meeting.

Bus Tracking Systems

School bus tracking technologies provide a wealth of information that improves school bus safety. Perhaps most importantly, they give school bus fleet managers instant access to their buses location. If there’s a problem such as an ill student, an accident, or a disabled bus, school bus fleet managers know about it instantly and can get help on the way.

These systems can also monitor school bus driver behavior. They track driving habits such as speeding, acceleration, and other practices that are contrary to safety regulations. In addition, information provided by school bus tracking systems can be reviewed later to determine who was at fault in an accident or if a driver responded appropriately in a dangerous situation.

Finally, school bus tracking systems can alert school bus fleet managers when a bus is malfunctioning or that it’s time for an equipment safety check. There are a couple of forms that GPS is integrated into school buses. Certain companies like Tyler Technology and Zonar, provide proprietary hardware devices to communicate vehicle positioning. Newer companies such as BusRight, however, are leveraging sensors in mobile devices, to provide a cost-effective telematics solution.

Tracking Student Ridership

Technology that tracks student ridership is an essential factor in school bus safety. Parents know when their child boarded and exited the bus as where they are on route to their destination.

Also, with student tracking, school administrators can make sure all students are accounted for and quickly locate and reach a particular student in an emergency. Some of these systems also alert the school if a student has been left on a bus.

School Bus Drills

An important, but sometimes overlooked, key to school bus safety is school bus evacuation drills. In the best case scenario, school bus drivers are not only taught how to evacuate their buses, they also practice evacuating it during mock drills.

Students, too, need to rehearse school bus evacuations. If practiced regularly, students can evacuate a fully-loaded bus in under a minute.

We can never do too much to improve school bus safety. However, it takes the collaboration of a community to do so. While technology can provide more tools to make school bus transportation safer, legislation, industry standards, and school district funding must also support that goal.