Embracing - Reducing School Bus Accidents

Reducing School Bus Accidents

Christina Elgin

QNT/275

June 8, 2015

Oliva Scott

Reducing School Bus Accidents

The highest fatality rate is with pedestrians involving school bus accidents.  Children are at greater risk when boarding and leaving a bus, such as loading zones and regular bus stops.  The need of collaboration on safety is a must so that there is a better awareness of how to keep children safe.   

Problem

Even though the National High Traffic Safety Administration says that school bus transportation is said to be safer than passenger vehicles in avoiding crashes and preventing injury there is still a concern on how to reduce school bus accidents.  The need to reduce school bus accidents is real.  Incident rates for bus accidents resulting in fatal, serious, and minor injuries need to be assessed and evaluated.

                                            Awareness

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration between the ages of 5 years of age and 13 years of age from 2003 to 2012 each had 35% of pedestrian accidents.  The fatality rate is up at 7 am and 8 am as well as from 3 pm and 4 pm in the afternoon.  The said data shown show both qualitative and quantitative risks.  Qualitative data deals with descriptions, data can be observed but not measured, where quantitative data deals with numbers, data which can be measured such as length, height, area, volume, weight, speed, time, temperature, humidity, sounds, cost, members, ages, etc.  From what the data tells me in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is that there is more quantitative data then there is qualitative data.  The way qualitative could be measured is if an actual act was observed and documentation was given of the facts of what happened.  

What Could Help

        If there was more communication between drivers and upper management, as well as schools on what could be done on safety issues, such as a plan or program of sorts.  Collaboration on safety is extremely crucial when keeping children safe.  From observation such as more aides on the bus, making sure that buses are inspected, drivers are put into classes that go over safety on a monthly basis, making drivers and managers make reports when an incident has taken place mandatory so that information is available for prevention and awareness.

Conclusion

Bus accidents whether it be pedestrians or bus accidents by another vehicle needs to have more awareness.  We need to look at what the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data for school bus accidents and take it seriously and come up with a programs that will either eliminate those numbers or reduce them significantly.  This is a problem and one that deserves attention.  

References

www.nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pub/811890.pdf

www.nhtsa.gov/Pedestrians

www.schoolbusfleet.com/channel/school-bus-safety/articles/2004/08/how-to-reduce-your-accident-rate.aspx