In nearly 30 years of nursing, I have seen quite a bit. I have seen miracles and I have seen unspeakable tragedy. I have scars, both physical and emotional, from the work that nurses do.
I keep doing this work because thankfully, the miracles far outnumber the tragedies. But the tragedies sometimes stick with me. One of those is the memory of a child who died in a senseless accident after getting off a school bus. That is why school bus safety is so important to recognize and talk about as our kids are going back and forth to school, and why school Bus Safety Week exists, so we can avoid those senseless tragedies for other families.
Despite the tragedy that I witnessed, school busses are the safest way to get kids back and forth to school. They are actually the safest form of transportation on U.S. roads. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, less than 1% of fatalities in vehicles on the road occur in school busses.
Kids are 70 times more likely to get to school safely on a school bus than they are if they travel by car. The reason is that school busses are very closely monitored for safety in their construction and use. That monitoring is mandated by law. Some of the safety features on buses include that bright yellow paint that makes them highly visible on the road, the flashing red lights, cross view mirrors for the drivers and stop-sign arms. School busses are also constructed with seating that is protective. They have very high crush standards, and have many features that make them hard to roll over.
Over the years, there has been a great deal of debate on if school buses should have seatbelts. Because most school busses are very large and very heavy, they behave differently than a car or truck when it comes to the forces that can injure occupants during a crash. Because there is such a high chance of non-compliance with seatbelt use in school busses and because the buses do act differently in a crash than a car, the seats are designed to be more protective than normal car seats.
That design allows them work better than seatbelts for protecting kids in a crash. Smaller busses which act more like cars in crashes, do require seatbelts. Traffic laws related to school busses also protect our kids making it illegal to pass a stopped bus when they are dropping off or picking up kids even if the approach isn’t from the front or behind.
But all the design innovation for safety and laws will not protect us if people are careless around school busses. The theme for this year’s National School Bus Safety Week is “know the danger zone.” The most dangerous place with school busses is not the bus itself, it’s 12 feet of space around the bus in every direction.
That space is the “danger zone,” because within that space it becomes hard for the bus driver, other drivers, and other pedestrians to see children around the bus. The danger zone starts at the bus stop.
Parents, please remind children to stay at least 6 feet away from the curb until the bus has completely stopped, and that the bus stop is not a playground. Kids need to be alert to cars and other vehicles on the road near the stop, not just the bus.
Remind kids never to walk behind a bus, and if they do need to cross the street, to do it at least 12 feet (5-6 giant steps) in front of the bus.
Teach kids to make sure the bus driver sees them before crossing and to never stop to pick up something dropped in front of the bus. If that happens, tell them to let the driver know so they can pick up the item safely. Safe crossing rules always apply even when school bus signs are out, make sure your kids know to watch for cars as they are crossing the street.
If you are driving near school busses or bus stops, make sure you are watching for children, especially when backing. Slow down and watch for kids walking on the street, especially in neighborhoods without sidewalks. Watch for kids playing near bus stops and be alert for kids who may dart into the street without looking for traffic. Remember that yellow flashing lights on a bus mean it is preparing to stop, and red flashing lights and extended stop arms means kids are actively getting on or off the bus. When those lights are flashing and the stop arm is extended, drivers must stop, regardless of their direction of travel in relation to the bus.
Remember this week and every week during the school year to be safe around school busses. That remembering and care will keep school buses as the safest form of transportation on the road.
