Four students were reportedly killed nationwide at the school bus stops during the 2014-2015 school year, the lowest figure in the 45 years of such data being reported.
The results come from the Kansas State Department of Education, which last month published its annual National School Bus Loading and Unloading Survey that has compiled state crash reports on students killed at the bus stop since 1970. All states submitted data for last year, but the report noted that the District of Columbia did not respond.
Three of the fatalities recorded for 2014-2015 occurred as motorists illegally passed the school bus. A 7-year-old boy was killed in New Mexico after disembarking the bus, crossing in front of his bus and running across the street when the passing motorist struck and killed him. The other two incidents occurred in Arkansas, where a 12-year-old girl had also unloaded from her bus and was crossing the street on her way home when she was hit by a passing motorist, and in Pennsylvania, where a 16-year-old girl was crossing the street to her school bus at dawn and was hit by an oncoming vehicle.
In all three instances, the school bus had its stop arm and eight-way lights activated to alert motorists to stop for children.
The fourth death was the result of the a 10-year-old boy in Kentucky being struck by the rear dual wheels of his school bus after he had disembarked from the vehicle.
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The Kansas report indicated that clear weather conditions prevailed when all four students were killed and that road conditions were dry. Additionally, three of the fatalities occurred on a rural state highway while the fourth occurred on a city street.
Two of the fatalities occurred on a Monday and the other two on a Thursday, with one happening in October 2014, a second occurring in December of that year and the other two this past January.
Over the 45 years of the national survey, more than 73 percent of the total 1,226 student fatalities recorded were students ages 1 to 9. Two-thirds of the fatalities also occurred as students were leaving the school bus on their way home. “Other vehicle” motorists attributed to 60 percent of the fatalities, and 25 percent of the fatalities were attributed to the school bus. No information is listed in the report for the remaining 15 percent.
In 1970, the first year of the survey, 75 students were reportedly killed at the bus stop. Sixty percent of these students were killed by passing motorists. Since then, safety training on the loading and unloading zone has intensified as has the use of federally mandated mirror systems and stop arms. Additionally, many states individually require crossing gates installed at the front of school buses to force students to cross some 10 feet in front of the vehicle to allow bus drivers to better see them.
