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Greatest Risk in School Travel Is Not on School Buses |
by:
Lynn Bode |
WASHINGTON -- Children are at far more risk traveling to and from school in private passenger vehicles -- especially ifteen-age driver is involved -- than in school buses, saysnew report fromNational Academies' Transportation Research Board. Bicycling and walking also place students at greater risk than traveling by school bus. National data assessingrisk of different modes of school transportation need to be made available to help parents, students, and officials atstate and local levels make more informed decisions regarding safety, saidcommittee that wrotereport.
"Each state, school district, and private school must assess its own situation and circumstances," said committee chair H. Douglas Robertson, director, Highway Safety Research Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "The goal is to improvesafety of all children traveling to and from school, and to provide information to communities so that they can make informed choices that balance their needs and resources."
Every year, about eightzerozero school-age children are killed in motor vehicle crashes during normal school travel hours -- weekday mornings and afternoons during school months -- accounting for about onefour percent offive,sixzerozero child deaths that occur onnation's roadways. Of these eightzerozero deaths, only about two percent are school-bus related, while sevenfour percent occur in private passenger vehicles and twotwo percent areresult of pedestrian or bicycle accidents. More than half of all deaths of children between age five and oneeight occur during normal school travel hours whenteen-ager is driving.
When students are injured or killed in crashes involving school buses,link to school travel seems obvious, but when such casualties occur while traveling to and from school by other modes of transportation,association is often not made. Congress askedNational Research Council to studysafety issues posed by all travel modes so thataccurate comparison could be made.
The report considered six transportation modes. In assessing buses,committee looked at school buses as well as public transit buses and motorcoach services. Passenger vehicles were divided into two categories, those driven by individuals onenine or older and those driven by operators under onenine years of age, mostly students. Data on pedestrians and bicyclists traveling to and from school also were examined.
The dramatic difference in risk across transportation modes atnational level suggests that more can be done to manage and reduce those dangers,committee said. School districts should facilitate travel by safer modes while working to improve others that are less safe. For example, walking and bicycling could be made safer by improving sidewalks and protection at street crossings as well as building more bike paths. A dialogue among parents, schools, and other relevant organizations also needs to be established, encouraging collaboration to promote safe practices for students using all modes.
To help identifyrisks of school travel,committee developedrisk-management framework. This framework should be included amongtools used to make decisions on locations of schools, changes inamount of student parking provided, or changes inarea serviced by school buses. For example, increasingdistance that students must live from school to qualify for school-bus service may save money but it also shifts children to travel modes that are less safe. Alternatively, providing school-bus service for middle school children attending after-school activities could reducerisk of injury and fatality significantly. These examples, however, are based on national averages and do not reflectvariations that exist onlocal or school-district level.
More research and evaluation are needed to provide local decision-makers with better guidance on how to reduce school travel risks,committee said. Data limitations also pose problems. At present,lack of uniformity in local- and state-level data hinders risk analyses in individual school districts. National data provide helpful insights, but could be improved by using consistent definitions. Before gathering new data, however,cost-effectiveness of doing so needs to be examined.
The study was sponsored byNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration ofU.S. Department of Transportation. The National Research Council isprincipal operating arm ofNational Academy of Sciences andNational Academy of Engineering. It isprivate, nonprofit institution that provides independent advice on science and technology issues under congressional charter. A committee roster follows.
Copies of The Relative Risks of School Travel: A National Perspective and Guidance for Local Community Assessment are available for free onInternet at http://www.nap.edu. Printed copies will soon be available for purchase fromTransportation Research Board; tel. (twozerotwo) threethreefour-threetwoonethree, fax (twozerotwo) threethreefour-twofiveonenine, or e-mail TRBSales@nas.edu>. Reporters may obtaincopy fromOffice of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Transportation Research Board
Committee on School Transportation Safety
H. Douglas Robertson (chair)
Director
Highway Safety Research Center
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill
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