OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this work was to describe the epidemiology of nonfatal school bus–related injuries among children and teenagers aged ≤19 years in the United States.
DESIGN/METHODS. Nationally representative data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All-Injury Program operated by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission were analyzed. Case subjects included all of the patients in the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All-Injury Program database who were treated in a hospital emergency department for a nonfatal school bus–related injury from 2001 to 2003.
RESULTS. There were an estimated 51100 school bus–related injuries treated in US emergency departments from 2001 to 2003, for a national estimate of 17000 injuries (rate: 21.0 per 100000 population) annually. Ninety-seven percent of children were treated and released from the hospital. Children 10 to 14 years of age accounted for the greatest proportion of injuries (43.0%; rate: 34.7) compared with all other age groups. Motor vehicle crashes accounted for 42.3% of all injuries, followed by injuries that occurred as the child was boarding/alighting/approaching the bus (23.8%). Head injuries accounted for more than half (52.1%) of all injuries among children <10 years of age, whereas lower extremity injuries predominated among children 10 to 19 years of age (25.5%). Strains and sprains accounted for the highest percentage of all injuries, followed by contusions and abrasions (28.3%) and lacerations (14.9%). More than three quarters (77.7%) of lacerations were to the head.
CONCLUSIONS. This is the first study to describe nonfatal school bus–related injuries to US children and teenagers treated in US hospital emergency departments using a national sample. This study identified a much greater annual number of school bus–related injuries to children than reported previously.
Conflict of Interest:
BECAUSE I DO CARE ABOUT ALL KIDS AND ISSUES THAT IN FACT DO EFFECT THEIR WELL BEING , BOTH MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY.
Although I can not read the entire study. I am puzzled over the conclusion reached especially after reading the comment posed by Ed J Winslow. Less then half of the injuries were caused by crashes. 25% occured while getting on and off the bus (How would seat belts help these children?). The abstract does not explain what the injuries were. In general any parent will want their child checked out in a hospital if the child was in a bus accident. So is a child who goes to the hospital to be checked out and has a minor scatch count as an injuried child?
It would seem to me that most injuries could be lessened simply by having the buses drive slower. It would be cheaper too!
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
Each day, about 440,000 public school buses transport 23.5 million children to and from school and school-related activities. These buses travel 4.3 billion miles each year.
The debate over whether school buses should be equipped with seat belts goes back to at least 1977, when NHTSA tightened school bus safety standards. At that time, following extensive research and analysis, NHTSA instituted "compartmentalization" as the primary means of occupant protection in large school buses: strong, well-padded, well-anchored, high -backed, evenly spaced seats. Think of it like a carton of eggs... each egg is in its own compartment.
The record is impressive: American students are nearly eight times safer riding in a school bus than with their own parents and guardians in cars. The fatality rate for school buses is only 0.2 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) compared to 1.5 fatalities per 100 million VMT for cars.This impressive safety record is a result of the Department of Transportation's requirements for compartmentalization on school buses.
Moreover, the protective abilities of today's school buses have been reaffirmed by two years of research.Yet, no matter how safe our children are on school buses, it is vitally important to constantly reassess existing safety measures.
Congress requested that DOT investigate the safety value of installing safety belts on our nation's school buses. An analysis of test data by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has concluded that lap belts appear to have little, if any, benefit in reducing serious-to-fatal injuries in severe frontal crashes.
On the contrary, lap belts could increase the incidence of serious neck injuries and possibly abdominal injury among young passengers in severe frontal crashes. Any increased risks associated with the use of lap belts in small school buses are more than offset by preventing ejections. The use of the combination lap/shoulder belts could provide some benefit, unless misused. Lap/shoulder belts can be misused and NHTSA's testing showed that serious neck injury and perhaps abdominal injury could result when lap/shoulder belts are misused.
Other considerations, such as increased capital costs, reduced seating capacities, and other unintended consequences (like vandalism) associated with lap/shoulder belts could result in more children seeking alternative means of traveling to and from school. Given that school buses are the safest way to and from school, even the smallest reduction in the number of bus riders could result in more children being killed or injured when using alternative forms of transportation.
Currently their are 5 states that require seat belts to be installed on school buses, but not a single state requires the passengers to wear them.
Over the past 11 years, school buses have annually averaged about 26,000 crashes resulting in 10 deaths - 25 percent were drivers; 75 percent were passengers. A pretty fantastic record if you ask me. We will continue to seek to make the buses safer, but for now it looks like "compartmentalization" is the answer.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared