Last month, STN contributor Art Gissendaner asked a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration spokesperson to update the industry on what the federal government is doing in regards to researching school bus fires.
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Read more on this topic in the May 2012 edition of School Transportation News magazine.
STN: Is the topic of school bus fires on NHTSA’s radar?
NHTSA: NHTSA is committed to ensuring the nation’s school buses keep both drivers and passengers safe on the roadway. Although U.S. school buses already have an outstanding safety record and are required to meet more federal motor vehicle safety standards than passenger cars, NHTSA is continually working to make the ride to and from school even safer—including through monitoring potential safety concerns. While NHTSA is aware of the recent reports of school bus fires, the agency does not know of any fatalities or injuries related to these incidents or any other fires involving buses.
Each year, 485,500 school buses travel approximately 4.2 billion miles to transport 23 million children to and from school and school-related activities. Yet, with an average of five crash-related deaths each year on school buses in the United States, the school bus occupant fatality rate is nearly six times lower than for passenger cars.
Q: Does NHTSA have any plans to initiate any research or scientific studies to address this situation?
A: NHTSA’s fire safety research efforts are primarily geared toward motorcoaches and large buses:
- In 2011, NHTSA completed an assessment on the feasibility of more stringent flammability requirements and the need for fire detection and protection systems on motorcoaches. The final report of this study is available in the docket No. NHTSA-2007-28793-0027 at www.regulations.gov.
- This year, the agency will be initiating follow-up research to develop appropriate test procedures and performance requirements for exterior motorcoach material and fire detection systems and to evaluate fire suppression systems.
STN: NHTSA recently issued a pre-solicitation for Statements of Capabilities for Motor Coach Buyer Research. Will the results of this process ultimately be applied to school buses?
NHTSA: While the agency’s fire safety research efforts are primarily geared toward motorcoaches and large buses, the agency may consider the economic and technical feasibility of any fire safety countermeasures identified in its findings for implementation for school buses.
School buses remain the safest way to transport students to and from school—even safer than traveling in a parent’s vehicle, bicycling, or walking to school. NHTSA is mindful that a federal requirement for enhanced fire protection in school buses may increase the cost to purchase and operate the vehicles, which would impact school budgets. Increased costs to purchase and operate school buses could reduce the availability of school bus service overall, and reduce school bus ridership. The reduced ridership may result in more students finding alternative, less safe means of getting to or from school or related events, such as riding in private vehicles.
STN: There are no recorded incidents of students being killed in a school bus fire. Given this statistic, does NHTSA view school bus fires as a real threat to student safety?
NHTSA. The agency is not aware of any fatalities or injuries resulting from school bus fires. One reason may be that school buses have more stringent federal motor vehicle safety standards for emergency evacuation requirements than other vehicles. In addition, NHTSA has developed an In-Service Safety Training module specifically covering emergency evacuations. This training is free and available for download from the NHTSA website. (Editor’s note — See the “Emergency Evacuation” tab on the right side of the screen.) Later in 2012, an updated CD-Rom with all training modules will be available for distribution.
STN: Normally, NHTSA does not conduct research into anything that is not accident-related. So, unless a school bus fire is caused by an accident, NHTSA does not investigate. Will this approach change given the multiple ways school buses can catch fire?
NHTSA: NHTSA conducts safety-related research as appropriate based on real-world data and the potential to reduce injuries and fatalities on our nation’s roadways. That research may or may not involve issues involving crashes or “accidents.” For example, the agency currently has research underway related to its efforts to prevent child heatstroke deaths and injuries in hot cars that will assess aftermarket devices designed to warn caregivers of children who are inadvertently left in unattended vehicles.
STN: Thank you.
