Crashes involving school buses claimed the lives of 130 individuals throughout the United States in 2013, according to tabulations of data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) by the National Safety Council.
NHTSA defines a school bus-related crash as a crash “that involves, either directly or indirectly, a school bus body vehicle, or a non-school bus functioning as a school bus, transporting children to or from school or school-related activities.”
According to the data, from 2004 to 2013, there were a total of 1,344 school transportation-related deaths, an average of 134 per year. These made up 0.4 percent of all fatal motor vehicle crashes.
A large part of these deaths, or 71 percent, was made up of occupants of vehicles other than the school bus. The second largest figure was that of pedestrians at 17 percent. School bus passengers were about 5 percent; school bus drivers were about 4 percent. Pedalcyclists were about 3 percent.
During this period of time, there were 116 school-aged (18 and under) pedestrians who lost their lives in these crashes. Of these, 62 percent were struck by school buses, 5 percent by other vehicles functioning as school buses and 33 percent by other vehicles involved.
