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ICTD 2025

Transportation Safety

POSTER RECEPTION (View list of posters here)

Enhancing School Bus Safety: Strategies and Recommendations for Reducing Crashes

Tuesday, June 10, 2025
4:45 PM – 6:00 PM MT
Abstract: According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 320,874 fatal motor vehicle crashes between 2007 and 2016, with 4% (1,147) classified as school-transportation-related crashes, resulting in 1,282 fatalities across all age categories, including 281 school-age children. These results underscore the ongoing safety challenges linked with school transportation, as crashes involving schoolchildren continue to climb despite multiple safety attempts. As a result, there is an urgent need to investigate the safety of school bus riders, analyze crash dynamics involving school buses, and evaluate the effectiveness of emerging safety technologies. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review on qualifications required for school bus drivers, reviews legislative and regulatory safety requirements, and investigates its oversight of school bus operations, as well as existing school district policy. Furthermore, scheduled interviews were conducted with officials from relevant agencies in the Tri-State area, focusing on school zone safety. The research concludes with a set of recommendations that combine insights from the literature with interview data. These recommendations offer guidance for policymakers, planning initiatives, and the use of emerging safety technologies to reduce school bus crashes, particularly during emergencies. This study will help agencies implement effective countermeasures, integrate safety technologies, and raise awareness, thereby reducing the frequency and severity of school bus incidents and improving overall student safety in school districts.

Learning Objectives:

Attendees can expect to learn the following from this session:
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to list strategies for enhancing school bus safety, describe crash dynamics, evaluate emerging safety technologies, and demonstrate understanding of relevant legislative and regulatory requirements.
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to identify factors affecting school bus safety, analyze crash data, recommend safety technologies, and evaluate existing safety measures.
  • Upon completion, participants will be able to describe school bus safety challenges, evaluate effective strategies, recommend safety improvements, and analyze legislative requirements for school transportation.