Year 2000 school bus safety reports - continued
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Original story title, 2000 Report Card on School Bus Safety in the U.S. � By Dr. Cal LeMon, Released August 31, 2000.
By Dr. Cal LeMon
Page 2, continued - "It's all about choices. Congress and federal and state governments have done their part by choosing to make school buses the most regulated, most inspected, and safest motor vehicles on the road, and with some of the best trained drivers. But all this safety emphasis is pointless if parents don't make the right choice and insist that their children take the bus to school," LeMon added.
The Report Card, produced with data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and from states, does not attempt to formally rate or grade individual states, or pick winners and losers. Instead, it provides key information about pupil transportation so parents and local officials can see how their state compares to others in funding, ridership, and other critical issues.
This year it includes for the first time narrative comments on many states. For example: Idaho increased pupil transportation funding in each of the past four years; West Virginia not only has high ridership (80 percent), but increased pupil transportation funding by 5 percent; Maryland allocated $450,000 for local police enforcement of those who pass a stopped school bus illegally; Missouri increased pupil transportation funding by 7.44 percent, the first increase since 1992; and New York transports more students than any other state-2.4 million every day.
LeMon said parents should know these key facts about school buses:
They are extremely safe. An average of only 10 children are killed each year as school bus occupants, and most of the deaths involved very severe crash circumstances that often were not survivable.
Predictable and preventable deaths. Most of the 600 school-age children killed each year during normal school transportation hours while riding in a passenger vehicle other than a school bus would be alive today had they taken a school bus.
Best record in transportation industry. Some 440,000 public school buses in the U.S. travel 4.3 billion miles each year carrying 24 million children...almost always without incident.
About Dr. Cal LeMon
Dr. LeMon is a nationally known writer, professional speaker and corporate trainer who is president of The Executive Enrichment, Inc., in Springfield, Mo.. LeMon says his advocacy for school bus safety is a personal concern - said he receives no funding from any school bus manufacturer, supplier or other business interest for his work promoting safe pupil transportation. He has extensively researched pupil transportation in the U.S., participated in dozens of school transportation meetings, and is the author of a best-selling book, Unreported Miracles: What You Probably Do Not Know About Your Child's School Bus. Dr. LeMon's, Report Card On School Bus Safety In The U.S," (.doc file) has drawn praise and also critisizum from industry safety advocates.
A poor grade for "The Report Card," By Dr. Arthur Yeager.
Dr. Yeager, a New Jersey Dentist has been active in automotive and school bus safety for the past 30 years. Dr. Yeager questions Dr. LeMon's "Report Card."
National Transportation Safety Report - This document focuses on what has been and what still needs to be done to protect children from death or injury in transportation-related crashes. (pdf format)
Is the school bus safer than your car? By Jerry Grunnagle.
Jerry Grunnagle questions school bus associations and affiliates portraying the yellow school bus as the safest mode of transportation. The industry, according to Grunnagle, is using inaccurate and incomplete crash data to compile national statistics.
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