Journal of Accident Investigation

Occupant Safety in Large School Buses:
Crash Investigations, Testing, and Modeling
Kristin M. Poland, National Transportation Safety Board,
Linda McCray, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration
and Aida Barsan-Anelli, Information Systems and Services, Inc.
ABSTRACT
NTSB JOURNAL OF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION, SPRING 2006; VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1
School bus travel is one of the safest forms of transportation on the road today. A
number of factors play into this excellent record, including the size and color of school buses,
special traffic requirements, and specific safety specifications covering joint strength, roof
strength, and occupant protection. This excellent record may be improved further as new
research identifies ways to better protect school bus passengers. This paper summarizes work
accomplished by both the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration to address the safety of large school buses.
INTRODUCTION
School buses are one of the safest forms of transportation on the road today. The passenger
fatality rate in school buses is 0.2 fatalities per million vehicle miles traveled (VMT), compared
to 1. per million VMT for passenger cars and 1.3 per million VMT for light trucks. 1 Each
year on average, 10 school bus occupants are fatally injured in school bus crashes, and 16
school-age pedestrians are fatally injured by school buses. Students in the United States are
almost eight times safer traveling in a school bus than in another form of transportation,
like the parent’s car. These safety statistics are true for a number of reasons, including the
school bus’s operating environment, color, joint and roof strength requirements, fuel system
integrity, and compartmentalization. 2
Despite the excellent safety record, research continues to explore ways to ensure the
continued safety of school buses and to identify improvements. Since the late 1960s,
1 Federal Register, October 26, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 206), on the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration’s School Bus Research Plan.
2 Compartmentalization provides a protective envelope consisting of strong, closely spaced seats that have
energy-absorbing seat backs. Compartmentalization is regulated under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
Standard No. 222, and is applicable to all school buses.