SCHOOL BUS CRASH IN TEXAS KILLS 2 AND INJURES MANY MORE

More than 40 pre-K students and 11 adults from Tom Green Elementary were making their way back to school after a field trip to the Bastrop County Zoo on March 22, 2024, when a concrete truck veered into the lane and struck the bus around 2 p.m. The man behind the wheel of the concrete truck that collided with the bus full of pre-kindergarten students last week in Texas, killing one student and one driver, had taken recreational drugs hours before the collision, according to reporting by the Austin-American Statesman. Texas Department of Public Safety reported that the driver, 42-year-old Jerry Hernandez, was arrested on a charge for criminally negligent homicide on Friday.

In April of 2023, a school bus barreled into a house in a Pittsburgh suburb. Thankfully, no children were aboard the bus at the time and the driver was not seriously injured. The house, however, suffered extensive damage.

In November 2023, a charter bus carrying students from a high school was rear-ended by a semi-truck on an Ohio highway, leaving six people dead and at least 18 others injured. Three students on the bus and three adults in one of the involved passenger vehicles all died at the scene.

THE STATISTICS ON SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION ACCIDENTS

School bus-related crashes killed 108 people nationwide in 2021, up 50% compared to the pandemic-related low number of 54 deaths in 2020, according to National Safety Council (NSC) tabulations of data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). A school bus-related crash is defined by NHTSA as any crash in which a vehicle, regardless of body design, used as a school bus is directly or indirectly involved. This includes incidents involving school children getting in or out of a vehicle.

From 2012 to 2021, about 70% of the deaths in school bus-related crashes were occupants of vehicles other than the school bus, and 16% were pedestrians. About 5% were school bus passengers, 5% were school bus drivers, and 3% were pedalcyclists. Of the people injured in school bus-related crashes from 2012 to 2021, about 30% were school bus passengers, 9% were school bus drivers, and 53% were occupants of other vehicles. The remainder were pedestrians, pedalcyclists, and other or unknown. For example, In 2021, there were 101 fatal bus accidents in the Unite States, which resulted in 108 fatalities. Only 4.6% of fatalities were school bus passengers. Rather, 68.5% of fatalities were occupants in other vehicles and 19.4% were pedestrians.

THE SAFEST WAY TO TRAVEL

Because accidents involving school buses and children make national news, it seems as if riding a school bus is more dangerous than it really is. Every day across the country, nearly 500,000 buses carry more than 25 million students to and from school and school-related activities. According to the National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB), school buses are the safest vehicles on the road, and one of the safest modes of transportation overall. In fact, children are much safer traveling in school buses than in any other vehicle, whether they're going to and from school, a field trip, or a sporting event. They are even safer riding in a school bus than in a car with their parents or caregivers.

One of the reasons for the good safety record of school buses is their design. School buses use a unique technology called compartmentalization—a passive occupant protection system to protect children in a crash. School bus seats are made with an energy-absorbing steel inner structure and high, padded seat backs, and are secured to the school bus floor. Students are protected within the seating compartment much like eggs in a carton. School buses use a unique technology called compartmentalization—a passive occupant protection system to protect children in crash. School bus seats are made with an energy-absorbing steel inner structure and high, padded seat backs, and are secured to the school bus floor. Students are protected within the seating compartment much like eggs in a carton. However, compartmentalization alone is not enough to prevent all injuries and for some children, a seat belt could lessen their injuries or even save their lives.

NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT

In addition to ensuring that school buses have seat belts, safety measures for the students as they get on and off buses should be increased. Every state has a law making it illegal to pass a school bus that is stopped to load or unload passengers with its red lights flashing and stop arm extended. Far too many drivers simply choose to ignore the law for their own convenience and put children at risk.  

In 2018, people saw the deadly consequences of such a choice when a pickup truck driver failed to stop for a stopped school bus that had its red warning lights and stop arm activated. The pickup truck struck children crossing the road to board the stopped bus in rural Indiana. As a result of the investigation, the NTSB recommended that states enact legislation to permit stop arm cameras on school buses to capture images and allow citations to be issued for illegal school bus passings based on the camera-obtained information. The NTSB also recommended that the use of school bus stops that require students to cross a roadway should be minimized.

CONTACT YOUR PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY

Despite best efforts, accidents will happen. If you or someone you know has been involved in a school transportation accident. contact Dave Thomas at The Thomas Law Firm for a free evaluation of your legal rights.