A school bus system is still the safest way for schoolchildren to travel, writes Eddie Shaw.
School buses, in general and in Ireland, have a very good safety record per passenger kilometre travelled. Here and internationally, a school bus transport system is the safest way of getting children to and from school, many times safer than by car.
However, at a time like this it's appropriate to ask questions about every aspect of safety in school transport. Simple, obvious answers to those questions are not easy to find.
There is, for example, no definitive agreement among international experts on how to secure the safety of our children in school buses. This extends to the use of seat-belts in those buses.
A wide range of research, with varying conclusions, covers the topic. (International research can be viewed at the National Safety Council's website, www.nsc.ie)
Absence of certainty in the conclusions arising from international research provides policymakers with a real dilemma when making decisions on investment of public funds in competing safety initiatives in a school transport system and in the wider road safety debate.
A wide range of safety measures can be adopted. Improving and ensuring safety for children on school buses in particular and school transport in general has focused at an international level among best-practice countries on the following key points.
Driver assessment and safety auditing:
Implementing a system of appropriate and frequent assessment, training, development, monitoring, control and licensing for operators, drivers (both professional and non-professional) and maintenance crew.
Maintaining a safe, modern fleet of school transport vehicles:
A school transport fleet is made up of a variety of types and ages of vehicles. The most important safety factor for the occupants of a school bus, specific to the vehicle, is the safe operating design and interior design of the bus or coach.
Modern (less than five years old) school buses are designed to provide a "compartmentalised" safety place for the travelling child or student. The purpose is to avoid head injury from impact with the seat in front of the passenger and to provide protection in the event of a rear impact.
In addition, many modern buses are fitted with three-point seat-belts or lap belts. However, children have very specific seat-belt and safety restraint requirements, not all of which can be met by the use of three-point belts or lap belts.
Legislation to support the operation of school transport:
The safe operation of a school transport programme is enhanced by appropriate legislation and enforcement that recognises the particular risks for the operator, driver, occupants and other road-users as set out above.
Examples of good practice in this area are Canada and the US.
A significant issue for experts is the use by children of seat-belts, which are really designed and tested for adults (three-point belts and lap belts). Seat-belts are designed for people 150cm (just under 5ft) and taller.
If a seat-belt is incompatible with a child it may cause serious injury, even in a minor impact collision. Medical studies show that lap belts increase the likelihood of spinal injury among children.
The National Safety Council in its booklet, Child Safety in Cars - A guide to Selecting and Fitting Child Restraints, states that children will probably need assistance in the form of a booster seat or booster cushion before they can upgrade to using a seat-belt usually at 11 or 12 years of age, depending on their height and weight.
Under this age (relative to height and weight) an H harness (a belt over each shoulder in an H-shaped configuration) in an appropriate seat design is the safest restraint.
For these reasons it is not sufficient to make the distinction based only on whether the child is attending primary school or secondary school.
In addition to the suitability of seat-belt use, consideration must also be given to behavioural issues for children/students travelling on school buses and the need for a travelling adult assistant to the driver, particularly for younger and/or vulnerable children.
It is still true to say that a school bus transport system is the safest way of transporting children to and from school.
Last year we killed and seriously injured about 3,000 people on our roads. Every one is a tragedy.
If our behaviour on the roads was as safe as those in Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, 1,000 of our community would be alive and well today. That is the scale of the challenge for each and every one of us.
Eddie Shaw is chairman of the National Safety Council