Parents may be surprised to learn that school buses are in fact the safest way for kids to get to and from school; safer even than their own cars.
According to the National Highway Transportation Administration, students are about 50 times more likely to arrive at school alive if they take the bus than if they drive themselves or ride with friends and about 20 times more likely to arrive safe than in a car driven by an adult.
School buses are designed to be safer than passenger vehicles in avoiding crashes and preventing injury, and school bus drivers are carefully screened and trained in loading and unloading of kids, security and emergency medical procedures and, of course, the all-important art of “student behavior management.”
The biggest dangers for kids, the NHTSA says, come when they are approaching or leaving a bus, not riding in one. As such, the following tips can help kids avoid serious injury or other problems in the school bus “danger zone,” which is the 10 feet in front, behind, and on each side of the bus:
The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation has information regarding the upcoming school year’s bus routes and related issues here. Have a safe and successful start to the 2014-2015 school year!
Don’t face this alone.
NEIL CHAPMAN, LAWYER