A while ago, we released a blog post called 5 Reasons Why Students Should Ride the School Bus, where we listed “School buses are the safest form of transportation” as one of the reasons why all students should ride the bus, but in this post we’re getting more in-depth with explaining why school buses are so safe.
As a school transportation company, we often get questions about the safety of the vehicles that we put our future generation on. The truth is, school buses are the safest vehicles on the road, for quite a number of reasons. Keep reading to see why there’s no need to be hesitant to put your child on a school bus!
The Color
School bus manufacturers make many deliberate design choices to make their products as safe as possible; “School Bus Yellow” paint is one of them. Research shows that yellow is the most eye-catching color, finding it is 1.24 times more visible than red, especially in peripheral vision.
The Size
Of course, the large size of a school bus contributes to its high visibility almost as much as its color does. The size is also advantageous in the rare chance of a collision. An average vehicle weighs 4,079 lbs, but a school bus weighs upward 25,000 lbs. If a school bus collides with something, it distributes crash force differently, and delivers much less force to passengers than standard vehicles do.
The Construction
Bus manufacturers incorporate structural integrity, reinforced panels and windshields, and emergency exit doors and windows as the foundation of every one of their products. Modern school buses also feature thickly padded, high-backed, staggered seating. This seating style provides protection in the form of “compartmentalization,” similar to the way egg cartons prevent eggs from cracking. Other safety features include air brakes, which are less likely to fail than standard hydraulic brakes, stop arms and lights, which clearly signal to other drivers when the bus is stopping, and many more.
The Lack of Seatbelts
The lack of seatbelts on buses seems to be the number one safety concern for parents, but contrary to popular belief, seatbelts, on school buses at least, can pose more of a hazard than a benefit. Picture a situation where there is only one driver with a seatbelt cutter and around forty kids strapped in seatbelts; it would take much longer to evacuate a bus full of seatbelt-confined kids than kids who can freely get up and walk off. In bad situations, such as fires, quick evacuation is essential. As stated above, school buses are designed to absorb impact and distribute very little crash force to passengers, so seatbelts would not provide much help anyway in the vast majority of accidents.
The Technology
Each iteration of school bus design implements more technology features that help keep kids safe. Some of these technologies include cameras inside and outside the vehicles, vehicle tracking technology, sleeping child check alarms, and collision mitigation systems. One of the most significant innovations are stop arm cameras, which will help bus drivers catch and report other drivers who don’t stop for school buses and endanger children boarding/getting off buses.
The One In Charge
This isn’t a direct trait of the bus, but it is nonetheless a factor that shouldn’t be ignored. School bus drivers are trained professionals; All school bus drivers take part in at least 20 hours of school bus specific instruction, pass four extensive knowledge tests, and pass on the road driving tests, to get their Class B CDL with a P (passenger) and S (school bus) endorsement, and Air Brake Restriction removed. Drivers are also subject to random drug testing, and must obtain the same clearances school teachers must have. School bus drivers are people who care deeply about the kids under their care and are 70 times more likely to get kids to school safely than parents or kids driving to school.
The Sanitation Measures Taken
Many people were rightfully concerned about the safety of riding on the bus when the COVID-19 pandemic spread. However, transportation companies across the nation are doing everything they can to keep students and drivers as safe as possible! The steps that Rohrer Bus takes to minimize the spread include spot cleaning after EVERY trip to or from school, and fully disinfecting vehicles at the end of each day, increasing ventilation on vehicles by traveling to and from school with the windows down (when weather permits), requiring drivers to wear Personal Protective Equipment at all appropriate times (this includes a mask while within 6 ft of students, and gloves while spot cleaning their vehicles), and requiring drivers to self-screen for symptoms of coronavirus before reporting to work, and document how they’re feeling every day. If they feel symptoms that could be coronavirus, they must visit their doctor and obtain a note before returning to work. If they test positive for COVID-19, they will need to quarantine until recovered, and wait at least 10 days after a negative test to return to work. In addition, students are assigned seats in a way to minimize close-contact between students as much as possible, for as long as possible.
Thanks for reading, and be sure to share the information so EVERYONE knows just how safe school buses really are!
