With New York being as busy as it is, there are a large number of vehicles of various kinds on the road. One vehicle that is frequently seen throughout the day is a school bus transporting children. These vehicles are unavoidable throughout the city. With that is a possibility of accidents. Studies into the frequency of accidents involving these buses and the dangers to children under the age of 18 have examined the issue.
The study looked into the years 2004 to 2013. During that time, there were more than 340,000 accidents across the nation. 1,214 involved a vehicle transporting school children. On average, there were 134 deaths annually. Those in the school-transportation vehicles made up 8 percent of those who died. Pedestrians under the age of 18 were also victims in these accidents with 116 dying in crashes involving school-transportation vehicles. 62 percent were hit by a school bus; 5 percent by vehicles that were not school buses, but were functioning as such; and 33 percent by other vehicles.
Thirty-five percent of pedestrians between the ages of 5 and 7 and 36 percent between 8 and 13 died in these types of accidents. Every year, an average of 8 pedestrians under the age of 18 died when hit by school buses or vehicles being used as school buses. The time of day in which these accidents happened was significant. Most pedestrians were killed between the hours of 7 and 8 a.m. and 3 and 4 p.m. than at any other time. At least one occupant of these vehicles was killed in 87 of the accidents. 61 percent of the crashes had at least one other vehicle involved.
In 53 percent, there was a frontal impact. In 11 percent, the impact was on the right side. 34 of the accidents were single vehicle and resulted in the deaths of 17 drivers and 20 passengers. For 53 accidents involving multiple vehicles, 28 drivers and 41 passengers in the school buses died. Given the dangers on the road and statistics of accidents, the possibility of a car accident, rear-end collision or head-on collision is constantly there. With that comes the potential for injuries and death. Those who have been involved in a school bus-related crash need to understand their rights to be compensated. Discussing the matter with a legal professional is imperative.
Source: nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov, “School-Transportation Related Crashes,” accessed on July 27, 2015
