NATIONAL COALITION OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY NEWS 2007

Jefferson County Public Schools Bus Fleet Averages One Crash Daily
May 7, 2007

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- How safe are your students when they ride to school in Jefferson County? That question is the topic of a Target 32 investigation and it uncovered some startling statistics about bus accidents in the Metro area. Now, some parents are calling for new safety measures.

According to public documents, a Jefferson County Public Schools bus is involved in a crash with another vehicle at least once per day.

While school officials claim buses are the safest mode of transportation, the mother of one child hurt in a bus wreck wants the district to do more.

“Some guy ran a stop sign and slammed into the bus,” Amelia Coulter said. “Jamelia was sitting in the back of the bus and was thrown to the floor face-down and then other children were thrown on top of her.”

Jamelia Coulter said she thought the bus was going over a bump when she fell to the floor and felt other students piling onto her.

“I was scared,” Jamelia said. “I wasn’t thinking until I got myself up and had the ability to get up.”

Jamelia suffered internal injuries and her mother said she might still need surgery.

“When impact hits these kids are thrown from one position to the other, on the floor, against the window,” Amelia said. “One little girl had to have 18 stitches.”

By the end of that same day in March, three different buses wrecked. Children were injured in two of them. In another, a driver died in a collision with a bus on the Gene Snyder.

But officials are quick to point out buses’ safety records.

“There are very few fatalities inside a school bus,” JCPS Transportation Director Rick Caple said. “Probably one or two nation-wide (yearly).”

Caple said more kids die every day on all-terrain vehicles and in their parents’ cars than on busses.

“The data will tell you it’s the safest vehicle on the road,” Caple said.

But data obtained by Target 32 also shows a large number of bus wrecks in Jefferson County. Target 32 examined five years of school bus accident data including the numbers of crashes, injuries and deaths. From the beginning of school in 2002 through March 31, 2007, there were more than 2,800 JCPS bus wrecks: an average of more than one per day.

According to the records, more than 70 percent involved busses and other vehicles. Buses hit six pedestrians during that time period. Reports showed more than 300 minor injuries, two serious injuries and three deaths not on-board the busses. Two of those deaths were in 2007.

Last September, a bus struck and killed Sean Cheek, 14, as he crossed the street in south Louisville. Investigators said it was an accident.

In March Tina Rodgers, 26, died after her car struck a bus on the Gene Snyder Expressway. Investigators said she had swerved to avoid debris in the road.

“In 70 percent of those accidents, we were not at fault,” Caple said.

He said parents should put the numbers into context.

“We’re driving 86,000 miles per day, 14 million times per year,” Caple said. “We’re driving in more traffic every day. So those numbers aren’t surprising when you consider what I deal with every day.”

Coulter said the numbers surprise her and she wants buses to have seatbelts, including retrofitting older busses.

“I feel what we have today are as safe as we can be and I’m not sure seatbelts will save lives down the road,” Caple said. “How much would it cost to retrofit these buses? Millions of dollars, and we only have x-amount of dollars.”

According to a recent National Highway Transportation Safety Administration study on school bus restraints, they can be beneficial but researchers concluded they need to examine the issue a bit more to learn what works best.

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