New edition of <I>School Transportation-Related Crashes</i> released

There was an average of 135 school transportation-related fatalities per year during the most recent 10-year span on record, new data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show.

NHTSA has released a new edition of its School Transportation-Related Crashes report that covers 2002-11.

During that time period, there were 355,834 fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of those, 1,221 (0.34%) were classified as school transportation related.

A total of 1,351 people died in the school transportation-related crashes, which NHTSA defines as “a crash which involves, either directly or indirectly, a school bus body vehicle, or a non-school bus functioning as a school bus, transporting children to or from school or school-related activities.”

The vast majority (72%) of the people who were killed in the school transportation-related crashes were occupants of other vehicles. Pedestrians, bicyclists and other non-occupants accounted for 21% of the fatalities. School transportation vehicle occupants accounted for 7%.

The NHTSA report also notes that in the 2002-11 time period, 123 school-age pedestrians (younger than 19) died in school transportation-related crashes. Two-thirds (66%) were struck by school buses, 6% were struck by vehicles functioning as school buses and 28% were struck by other vehicles involved in the crashes.

To view the full report, click here.