School bus crashes drop 10% in Calif.

Even with increases in California’s number of school buses and miles traveled, collisions dropped dramatically in fiscal year 2009-10.

In that year, there were 1,878 school bus crashes, down 10 percent from the 2,091 crashes in the previous year. Five of the 2009-10 crashes resulted in fatalities, but none was a student bus passenger.

In the same year, the total number of school buses operated in the state increased 5 percent from the previous year, from 23,678 to 24,895. And the number of school bus miles traveled rose 4 percent, from 277,317,718 to 288,227,524.

School bus drivers were determined to be at fault in 726 of the school bus collisions in fiscal year 2009-10, a decrease of 107 from the previous year.

The data, from a report distributed recently by the California Department of Education’s Office of School Transportation, cover collisions that occurred while school buses were transporting one or more students to or from school or school-related activities.

“School pupil transportation agencies may use this information to identify primary collision factors and direct their training resources accordingly,” the report says. ”This data should assist … in reducing incidents of school bus-involved collisions and ensure the safe transportation of California’s school pupils.”

To view the full report, click here.