Bus Crashworthiness Issues

School bus and motorcoach travel are two of the safest forms of transportation in the United States. Each year, on average, nine school bus passengers and four motorcoach passengers are fatally injured in bus crashes, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and motorcoach industry statistics. In comparison, NHTSA statistics show that in 1998 over 41,000 people were fatally injured in highway crashes. Although much has been done to improve the safety of school buses and motorcoaches over the years, the safe transportation of bus passengers, especially students and senior citizens, continues to be a national safety priority. Children and seniors are predicted to be the fastest growing segments of our society, and these groups are the primary users of bus transportation. Therefore, the National Transportation Safety Board initiated this special investigation to determine whether additional measures should be taken to better protect bus occupants.

To address crucial safety questions on bus safety, this special investigation examines school bus and motorcoach crashworthiness issues through the analysis of 6 school bus and 40 bus accidents and through information gathered at the Safety Board’s August 12, 1998, public hearing. (See appendix A.) This report also evaluates the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) that govern the design of school buses and motorcoaches to determine the effectiveness of these standards and to determine whether further occupant protection measures are needed. Also included here are the results of computer simulations performed to evaluate the safety levels afforded by passenger crash protection systems not currently required for school buses. Further, the report reviews international perspectives on, and developments in, motorcoach occupant protection. Finally, the report addresses data collection issues that are hampering effective accident study. During the Safety Board’s discussion of bus crashworthiness issues, this special investigation identifies the following safety issues:

• Effectiveness of current school bus occupant protection systems;
• Effectiveness of Federal motorcoach bus crashworthiness standards and occupant protection systems;
• Discrepancies among different Federal bus definitions;
• Deficiencies in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting Systems bus ejection data; and
• Lack of school bus injury data.

As a result of this special investigation, the Safety Board makes recommendations to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Association of Governors’ Highway Safety Representatives, and the bus manufacturers.