New York School Bus Injuries and Accident Prevention and Safety

National School Bus Safety Week this year is October 19 - 23 and was put in place to help children know what they can do to keep themselves safe when they are riding the school bus and also for parents and drivers to be made aware of what they can do to help reduce the chances of school bus accidents and injuries.

Many parents with school age children often ask the question "how safe are school buses?" the answer to that question is two fold.  While recent studies have shown that school buses are the safest form of transportation for school-age children to get to and from school there is also more studies that have been done recently that show that there are many dangers associated with riding on a school bus.  In fact, one recent study showed that 17,000 children are hospitalized yearly because of school bus related injuries which is nearly double the amount of what was previously though to be the annual amount of school bus related injuries.  The number of injuries nearly doubled because recent studies included injuries not only from school bus accidents but injuries that occur when roughhousing on a bus, slip and falls and falling out of the seat because of a sudden stop or sudden turn. 

While more than half of the school bus related injuries are caused by incidents similar to that which are listed above the other half are caused by school bus accidents that result from crashes.  The most recent New York school bus accident occurred when a Staten Island school bus collided with a SUV and landed on the lawn of a home in the Huguenot area in Staten Island.  There were 26 children and two adults on the bus of which a total of three were treated for injuries.

A few months ago a situation happened where a New York school bus driver put the students which were riding on the school bus in danger by driving the school bus while under the influence.  The school bus driver was charged with 74 counts (36 charges of endangering the welfare of a child and 37 charges of second-degree reckless endangerment) after driving a school bus while intoxicated.  The school bus drivers Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) was .15 which is multiple times over the legal limit.  This incident could have resulted in serious injuries or possibly even the death of as many as 36 students. 

While school buses have proven to be the safest form of transportation for going to and from school there are things that sometimes happen which occur that cause the school bus driver, the school district or the school bus company to be liable for their actions:

• Hiring school bus drivers with inadequate experience
• Not properly training school bus drivers
• School bus driver operating the school bus while tired, fatigue, under the influence of drugs or alcohol, under the influence of certain prescription medication or any other negligent act
• Having too many students on the school bus
• Driving in adverse road conditions
• Negligence of the bus company such as lack of bus maintenance, improper bus maintainance, faulty bus equipment, missing bus equipment or illegal bus equipment

These common negligent acts by school bus drivers, school bus companies, school districts and other negligent drivers often result in injuries to children.  The most common injuries that occur in school bus accidents are:

• Whiplash
• Head, Neck and Back trauma
• Broken bones, fractures and sprains
• Spinal cord injury
• A traumatic brain injury
• Soft tissue trauma and internal bleeding
• Paralysis
• Disfigurement
• Burns
• Loss of limbs
• Death

If your child was injured as a result of someone else's negligent behavior or actions you will want to contact a personal injury lawyer who is familiar with child injury cases.  Remember to take this week to education your children about school bus safety.  Explain to them the importance of using safety precautions while getting on the bus, while riding the bus and while getting off of the bus.  Here are some things you can go over with your children:

• Do not run onto the bus
• When getting onto the bus make sure you walk up the stairs with caution
• Stay seated in the bus and if the bus has safety belts use them
• Do not stand up while the bus is moving and wait until it comes to a complete stop before exiting the bus
• Try not to fall asleep during the bus ride.  Staying awake will help you brace yourself better in case the school bus makes a sudden stop or turn.
• When exiting the bus use caution walking to the front of the bus and walking down the stairs
• Do not run out into the middle of the street and always look both ways before crossing.