School Bus Safety Legislation at Federal Level as September Is Designated “School Bus Safety Month”
For many Hoosiers, any discussion of the danger of a school bus crash harming our children brings back the horrific school bus accident in Fulton County last Halloween, when Maverik Lowe (11 years old) joined Xzavier and Mason Ingle (twin brothers, 6 years old) and their nine year old sister, Alivia Stahl, to wait for their school bus on the roadside of North Indiana State Road 25.
The kids were critically injured when a pickup truck coming in the opposite direction hit the children as they crossed the street to board their bus. The siblings died at the accident scene; Maverik suffered critical injuries but thankfully survived. For details on this tragedy, read “Deadly Indiana School Bus Crash: Driver Charged with Reckless Homicide.”
This was far from a solitary event. Sadly, school bus accidents are all too commonplace here in our part of the country, as we demonstrated with the number of school bus crashes reported in Indiana and Illinois during a single week in November 2018; see, “School Bus Safety: Protecting Our Schoolchildren in Indiana and Illinois.”
State Action to Protect Against School Bus Accidents
In response to the Fulton County school bus crash, the Indiana State Legislature took action to pass new legislation that would protect schoolchildren riding a school bus. For more, read “School Bus Crashes in Indiana: Proposed 2019 School Bus Safety Laws and Accident Claims.”
In May 2019, the Governor signed these two Indiana statutes into law. They are effective for the upcoming school year. For details on the legislation, including links to their full text, go here.
Now, a Federal Focus on School Bus Safety
Things have not ended in the pursuit of making our children safer on school buses. This year, actions are being taken at the federal level to protect children from the dangers of a serious or fatal school bus crash.
September 2019: School Bus Safety Month
First, Senate Resolution 285 was introduced last week (on July 25, 2019) to make September 2019 officially designated “School Bus Safety Month.” Yesterday, this Resolution was agreed to in the Senate without amendment and with a preamble by Unanimous Consent.
From its provisions we know:
- Each school day, more than 26 Million schoolchildren are transported in either a public or private school bus;
- The largest mass transportation fleet in the United States are school buses;
- Almost half (48%) of schoolchildren (K–12) ride a school bus every day (“each of the 180 school days in a year”); and
- School buses drive almost 4.7 Billion miles each year in this country.
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth co-sponsored this School Bus Safety Resolution. She is also at work trying to increase the protections for schoolchildren riding school buses with new federal laws.
School Bus Safety Act of 2019
Senator Duckworth has re-introduced the School Bus Safety Act for consideration once again by Congress.
Read the full text of this proposed legislation here.
“No parent should have to worry about the safety of their children when they get on a school bus, but school buses often lack seat belts and other basic safety equipment that every parent demands. Nothing is more important than protecting our children, which is why I’m proud to be re-introducing the School Bus Safety Act with Rep. Cohen to help prevent accidents, make accidents less severe and implement other commonsense safety recommendations that will save lives.”
Five School Bus Crash Protections under Federal School Bus Safety Act
The School Bus Safety Act of 2019, if passed, would be a new federal law that would mandate the Department of Transportation to require the following from all school buses in this country:
- School bus safety belts for school children riding the bus.
Specifically, the new law would require a three-point safety belt that includes both a seat belt and a shoulder harness so the child has added protection and restraint.
- School buses equipped with Automatic Emergency Brakes.
The statute mandates school buses have automatic emergency brake systems to support the school bus driver with software that detects people, objects, or motor vehicles in the oncoming path of the school bus and automatically hits the brakes to avoid a bus crash.
- Recorders to Document Accidents and Crashes
The new law will also require school buses to have the same kind of “black box” device commonplace on commercial flights, with an “Event Data Recorder (EDR)” which automatically keeps track of the school bus, both before and after any school bus crash, to help in any investigation determining the cause of a school bus crash.
- School buses equipped with Stability Control
Along with the emergency brake system, the new federal statute will require school bus operators to have school buses equipped with an “Electronic Stability Control (ESC) System.” This works to help the driver maintain control of the school bus (avoiding rollovers, etc.) with software technology that automatically hits the brakes on the individual bus wheels when necessary.
- School buses equipped with Fire Suppression
School buses will have to have a firewall between the engine compartment and the passenger compartment, protecting the schoolchildren and the bus driver from fire and/or fumes in the event of an engine fire.
Seeking Justice after a School Bus Crash in Indiana or Illinois
For many of us in Indiana and Illinois, taking a school bus is not only something our kids do, but somewhat of a family tradition, where parents and grandparents share fond memories of their daily school bus rides with friends.
Moreover, in our part of the country, school buses are not an option. Particularly in rural areas, school buses are necessary to get kids to and from class each day.
The reality is that school bus accidents happen all too often in Indiana and Illinois and the risk of being seriously injured or killed in a school bus crash is all too real for our schoolchildren.
Both the states of Indiana and Illinois have laws in place to help schoolchildren and their families in seeking justice after a serious or fatal school bus crash.
While the federal legislation goes far in protecting kids from harm, those seeking justice in the aftermath of a school bus crash will find relief under our state laws regarding negligence and product liability.
For more read:
- Danger of Fatal Child Pedestrian Accidents as Kids Go Back to School;
- Employer Liability for Distracted Driving Accidents in Indiana or Illinois; and
- Fatal Car Crashes: 10 Times More Likely to Die on Rural Roads.
There are dangers on our roadways that cause fatal accidents like speeding, distracted driving, and driving under the influence. As the new school year begins, we need to be alert to the dangers facing schoolchildren riding school buses. Let’s be careful out there!
