School bus season begins soon

In less than a month, most school districts in metro Atlanta will be back in session. While school supplies, uniforms and maybe even lunches are chief concerns of most students and parents, they may give little consider- ation to the big yellow vehi- cle that transports about half of students daily. Consider some interesting statistics from the National Transportation Safety Board, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the American School Bus Council and Safe Routes to School National Partnership: School bus transportation is safer than passenger cars: Students are about 70 times more likely to get to school safely by taking a bus than traveling by car. That’s because school buses are the most regulated vehicles on the road: They’re designed to be safer than passenger vehicles in preventing crashes and inju- ries, and in every state, stop- arm laws protect children from other motorists. The school bus is designed with student safety in mind: School buses are designed so that they’re highly visible and include safety features such as flashing red lights, crossview mirrors and stop-sign arms. They also include protective seating, high crush stan- dards and rollover-protection features. Each year, approx- imately 800 school-age children are killed in motor vehi- cle crashes during normal school travel hours. About 2 percent of these deaths occur on school buses, while 74 percent occur in private passen- ger vehicles. Approximately 22 percent are bicycle or pedestrian accidents. More than half of these deaths overall are due to a teen driver. School buses cut down on traffic volume: The average school bus transports 54 student passengers, replac- ing approximately 36 family vehicles. As much as 20 per- cent to 30 percent of morning traffic is generated by parents driving their children to schools. School buses cut down on pollution: Although many school districts are seeking to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, even diesel-powered buses help reduce harmful pollutants in the air. With a nationwide capability of removing up to 17 million cars from joining the daily com- mute, school bus ridership saves over 20 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year. Parents save money by using the school bus: Parents who drive children to school instead of letting them ride a bus ride use approximately 180 additional gallons of fuel per year, spend an additional $663 on fuel and put 3,600 miles on their car. Even with data showing so many reasons for children

to numbers ride the have bus been to school, declining the since more the than 1980s, 60 percent when slightly of students ing to Safe rode Routes the bus, to accord- School, a national The myriad nonprofit. of parent and student blogs show a few reasons often cited: The long ride: The average length of a school bus ride varies depending on whom you ask. The state of New York has a mandate that a child’s commute shouldn’t be lon- ger than an hour. In Iowa, the maximum is supposed to be 75 minutes for high schoolers and no more than an hour for younger kids. Many national agencies cite 20 to 30 min- utes as average. Bullying: Many parents and students who commented on blog posts said the prob- lem with bullying on a bus is that it’s easier to get away with. The driver’s main duty is to drive, so he or she can’t witnesses subtleties that can be as harmful as an all-out slugfest. Some districts have monitors, who appear to added cut down, if not eliminate this problem. Unruliness and noise: As anyone who has been with a large group of people in a confined space can tell you, voices carry. Even a whisper can turn deafening when it’s multiplied And depending by upon 50 or the more. age, it’s nearly impossible to keep kids still for more than a few minutes.