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About Minnesota School Buses  All of the available information indicates that today’s school buses are the safest vehicles on the nations streets and highways. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated in it's April 2002 report, “School Bus Safety: Crashworthiness Research,”: Every year, approximately 450,000 public school buses travel an estimated 4.3 billion miles to transport 23.5 million children to and from school and school-related activities. The school bus occupant fatality rate of 0.2 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is much lower than the overall rate for motor vehicles of 1.5 per 100 million VMT. If one considered the average number of passengers on school buses versus passenger cars, there would be even a larger difference in the fatality rates per passenger mile.
A 2002 study conducted by the National Research Council (NRC) of the According to the National Safety Council, the national school bus accident rate is 0.01 per 100 million miles traveled, compared to 0.04 for trains, 0.06 for commercial aviation and 0.96 for other passenger vehicles. School buses are 172 times safer than your family automobile, 8 times safer than passenger trains, 4 times safer than transit buses, 4 times safer than intercity buses, 8 times safer than scheduled airlines. In the State of Minnesota school buses which meet the standards contained in Minnesota Statutes and Department of Public Safety Rules must be utilized for all transportation service to and from school, or on school related activities, which is provided to students attending a school as defined in the Minnesota Compulsory Attendance Act, MS 120A.22, by a school or school distict. School Bus service is defined in MS 169.011 Subdivision 71: A school bus may be type A, type B, type C, or type D, or type III. The modern school bus is the product of an evolving series of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards coupled with agressive school bus safety development by the school bus manufacturers. In 1939 the first national conference was called to develop uniform standards for school bus design and recommendations for school bus operations. Representatives of all of the states, the Federal Government, and the school bus manufacturers attended this conference and helped develop the first National Minimum Standards for School Bus Operations. In the intervening years there have been 11 additional National Conferences which have developed minimum standards that have been adopted by many states, including Minnesota. These Conferences have developed new requirements for school bus design, construction, and operation, as well as guidelines for the safe transportation of school children. Participants from Minnesota have represented school districts, school bus contractors, the Minnesota State Patrol, and the Minnesota Department of Education. In 1977 the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration enacted a series of new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) for the design and construction of school transportation equipment. These standards effectively redesigned the school bus and surrounded the student with "a circle of safety". Buses manufactured after the effective date of the revised standards are referred to as "Post Standard". Among other features the revised Standards mandated high back padded seats for passive passenger restraint in collissions, increased roof and joint strength, and different performance standards for school buses compared to other buses. All school buses must meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards:
As a result of the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 and the School Bus Safety Amendments of 1974, NHTSA currently has 35 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) that apply to school buses. The 1974 amendments directed NHTSA to establish or upgrade school bus safety standards in eight areas: emergency exits, interior occupant protection, floor strength, seating systems, crashworthiness of the body and frame, vehicle operating systems, windshields and windows, and fuel systems. As a result of the 1974 amendments, three new motor vehicle safety standards were established and four existing standards were amended.
NHTSA enforces these standards through its Compliance Test Program. The Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance conducts yearly compliance test programs to assure that school buses meet FMVSS’s. There have been numerous recalls to address noncompliances with FMVSS. Click on the sections below for additional information:
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