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A school bus is a bus used to transport schoolgirls and boys to and from school. Some countries have specially built, painted and equipped school buses. In Canada and the United States they are commonly painted an orangey-yellow color (officially known as "National School Bus Glossy Yellow") for purposes of visibility and safety and equipped with specialized traffic warning devices. Most used in recent years have been diesel-powered. Full-size school buses can seat forty-five to seventy passengers or even more, but in many districts smaller vehicles are used as well. 1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus at Virginia State Capitol This work is copyrighted. ...
1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus at Virginia State Capitol This work is copyrighted. ...
advertisement for 1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus on Ford chassis Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses branded with the tradename Wayne. ...
Goochland County is a county located in the state of Virginia. ...
Virginia State Capitol Building at Richmond, Virginia Virginia State Capitol is a building in Richmond, the city which is the third State Capital of Virginia. ...
A bus is a large wheeled vehicle, intended to carry numerous persons in addition to the driver. ...
A schoolgirl is a girl attending either primary or secondary school. ...
A boy is a male human child or adolescent, as contrasted to a female child, which is a girl. ...
A school is most commonly a place designated for learning. ...
See also Orange (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word. ...
Yellow is the color of light with a wavelength between 565 nm and 590 nm. ...
The school bus yellow paint was shining brightly on this new 1973 Wayne Lifeguard school bus won in a national contest for safety ideas. ...
Diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of fuel oil (from petroleum) that is used in a diesel engine invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel, and perfected by Charles F. Kettering. ...
Some U.S. school districts purchase the buses and hire their own drivers, while others engage the service of school bus contractors such as Laidlaw to perform this function. School buses in the UK in almost all cases are contracted out to local bus companies. Elsewhere in Europe school buses are hardly known. School districts are a form of special-purpose district in the United States and Canada which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools. ...
A school bus contractor is a private company or proprietorship which provides school bus service to a school district or non-public school. ...
One of Laidlaws 40,000 yellow school buses Laidlaw, currently organized as Laidlaw International, Inc. ...
World map showing location of Europe When considered a continent, Europe is the worlds second smallest continent in terms of area, with an area of 10,600,000 km² (4,140,625 square miles), making it larger than Australia only. ...
School buses in the U.S.
Early modes: 'kid hacks' become school buses Wayne Works, predecessor of Wayne Corporation, was founded in the United States of America in 1837. By 1886, and possibly earlier, it is known that Wayne Works was making horse-drawn school carriages which many people referred to as "school hacks," "school cars," "school trucks," or "kid hacks." ("hack" was a term for certain types of horse-drawn carriages.) advertisement for 1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus on Ford chassis Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses branded with the tradename Wayne. ...
1837 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...
1886 is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ...
horse-drawn kid hacks were an early form of school bus A kid hack was a horse-drawn vehicle used for transporting children to school in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States. ...
In the United Kingdom, a hackney carriage is a taxicab licensed by the Public Carriage Office in the London Metropolitan Area or by the local authority in other parts of England and Wales and the Scottish Executive in Scotland. ...
In 1914, Wayne Works dropped a wooden kid hack onto an automobile chassis, creating a predecessor to the modern motor school bus. In the bodies for school transportation the company produced through this era, passengers sat on perimeter seating, facing the center rather than the front of the bus. Entry and egress was through a door at the rear, a design begun in non-motorized days so as not to startle the horses. This was possibly a precursor to the modern rear emergency door commonly found on modern school buses. 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...
In 1927, Blue Bird Body Company and Wayne Works began building all-steel bus bodies, followed by others by 1935. In the 1930s, the school bus bodies of Wayne Works began to include a group of heavy-duty "collision rails" or "guard rails" as an added safety feature. 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...
The Blue Bird Corporation is a large manufacturer of buses. ...
1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
// Events and trends The 1930s were spent struggling for a solution to the global depression. ...
Early school buses primarily served rural areas where it was deemed impractical for the young students to walk the distances necessary to get back and forth from school on their own, and were sometimes no more than a truck with perhaps a tarpaulin stretched over the truck bed. Rural areas are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. ...
Wayne Works was one of the earliest school bus companies to offer glass in place of the standard canvas curtains in the passenger area long before many "school" bus companies did in the early 1930s.
Experiments with transit-style school buses In the 1930s, Wayne Works, Crown Coach of California, and other school bus body companies manufactured some transit-style school buses, that is, types with a more or less flat front-end design (known in modern times as "type D" school buses). Crown Coach is considered to have made the most transit buses during this period, as many California school districts operated in terrain requiring heavy duty vehicles.
In 1950, Albert L. Luce, founder of the Blue Bird Body Company, developed a transit style design which evolved into the Blue Bird All-American, generally considered the first successful east coast school bus transit design. However, the "conventional" design, with a truck type hood and front-end (known as type C on modern school buses) was to continue to dominate US school bus manufacturing through the end of the 20th century. 1950 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...
The Blue Bird Corporation is a large manufacturer of buses. ...
Dr. Frank W. Cyr: father of the yellow school bus Most school buses turned the now familiar yellow in 1939. In April of that year, Dr. Frank W. Cyr, a professor at Teachers College at Columbia University in New York organized a conference that established national school-bus construction standards, including the standard color of yellow for the school bus. It became known officially as "National School Bus Chrome, later renamed National School Bus Glossy Yellow." The color, which has come to be requently called simply "school bus yellow", was selected because black lettering on that hue was easiest to see in the semi-darkness of early morning and late afternoon. 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Frank W. Cyr (July 7, 1900 - August 1, 1995) was an American educator and author, a specialist in rural education who became known as the Father of the Yellow School Bus. ...
Columbia University is a private university in New York City. ...
The term conference can be used to describe any meeting of people that confer about a certain topic. ...
The school bus yellow paint was shining brightly on this new 1973 Wayne Lifeguard school bus won in a national contest for safety ideas. ...
The school bus yellow paint was shining brightly on this new 1973 Wayne Lifeguard school bus won in a national contest for safety ideas. ...
Black is a color with several subtle differences in meaning. ...
The conference met for seven days and the attendees created a total of 44 standards, including specifications regarding body length, ceiling height and aisle width. Dr. Cyr's conference, funded by a US $5,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, was also a landmark event inasmuch as it included transportation officials from each of the then 48 states, as well as specialists from school-bus manufacturing and paint companies. The conference approach to school bus safety, as well as the yellow color, has endured into the 21st century. Dr. Cyr became well-known as the "Father of the Yellow School Bus." The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...
Grant is a family name (and a first name), and also the name of places and things monetary aid, see Grant (money) Federal grant for U.S. government grants. ...
The Rockefeller Foundation is a charitable organization that operates out of New York City. ...
The following alphabetical lists includes men and women commonly known as the father or mother of something. ...
Growth in school bus use after World War II Following World War II, there was a nationwide movement in the U.S. to consolidate public schools into fewer and larger ones. This meant that fewer students were attending school in their immediate neighborhood, particularly as they progressed into high school. This led in turn to a large increase in the demand for school buses. World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th-century conflict that engulfed much of the globe...
Neighbourhood is also a term in topology. ...
High school, or Secondary school, is the last segment of compulsory education in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan (Republic of China) (only junior high school), the United Kingdom and the United States. ...
Protecting school children loading and unloading
 A United States school bus By the mid 1940s, most states had traffic laws requiring motorists to stop for school buses while children were loading or unloading. The justifications for this protocol were that: Image File history File links This is a picture of a school bus in the United States with no usage restrictions. ...
Image File history File links This is a picture of a school bus in the United States with no usage restrictions. ...
// Events and trends The 1940s were dominated by World War II, the most destructive armed conflict in history. ...
Critical legal studies Jurisprudence Law (principle) Legal research Letter versus Spirit List of legal abbreviations Legal code Pointless law Natural justice Natural law Philosophy of law Religious law External links Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Law Look up law in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
- Children, especially the younger ones, do not have brains developed sufficiently to fully embrace the danger and consequences of crossing safety without adult supervision. Under U.S. tort laws, a child cannot legally be held accountable for negligence for this reason. For that same reason, adult crossing guards often are deployed in walking zones between homes and schools.
- It is impractical in many cases to avoid children crossing the traveled portions of roadways after leaving a school bus or to have an adult to accompany them.
- The size of a school bus generally limits visibility for both the children and motorists during loading and unloading
The standardized yellow color helped and warning lettering was painted in large letters on school buses, but many accidents occurred when traffic was not aware that the hazard existed, and children on foot were hit by other vehicles. Several devices were under development to help school bus drivers warn other motorists. In the common law, a tort is a civil wrong for which the law provides a remedy. ...
Around 1946, one of the early (and possibly the first) systems of alternating traffic warning lights on school buses was used in Virginia. In those days before the advent of transistors and advanced plastic lens technology, an alternating system was created by using sealed beam headlight bulbs with the lenses colored red, and a mechanical motor and solenoids to alternate the high and low beam filaments in the single bulb fixtures mounted at the front and rear of the bus. School children and drivers were subjected to a loud tick-tock noise from the flasher motor as it was operating. Activation was through a mechanical switch attached to the door control. 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...
State nickname: Old Dominion Other U.S. States Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Governor Mark R. Warner (D) Official languages English Area 110,862 km² (35th) - Land 102,642 km² - Water 8,220 km² (7. ...
Through hole transistors (tape measure marked in centimeters) The transistor is a solid state semiconductor device which can be used for amplification, switching, voltage stabilization, signal modulation and many other functions. ...
Plastic is a term that covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic polymerization products. ...
A lens is: a part of the eye an optical device that may be used in a camera or in a telescope; see lens (optics). ...
A motor is a device that converts energy into mechanical power, and is often synonymous with engine. ...
In engineering, a solenoid is a mechanical device that converts energy into linear motion. ...
A filament is a fine, thinly spun thread, fiber, or wire. ...
The incandescent light bulb uses a glowing wire filament heated to white-hot by electrical resistance, to generate light (a process known as thermal radiation). ...
Around this time, some states began specifying a mechanical stop arm which the driver could activate to swing out from the left side of the bus to warn traffic. The portion of the stop arm protruding in front of traffic had a sign bearing a warning message.
In later years, flashing lights were added to the stop arms, mechanical flasher devices were replaced by electronic ones, and the front and rear warning lights were increased from two to four and eventually eight (in most states). Plastic lenses were developed in the 1950s which offered greater visibility and significantly lower costs than the early systems which used colored headlight bulbs. // Events and trends The 1950s in Western society was marked with a sharp rise in the economy for the first time in almost 30 years and return to the 1920s-type consumer society built on credit and boom-times, as well as the height of the baby-boom from returning...
School bus stop laws in the United States and Canada
 A rear view of a school bus. Its stop sign is located towards the front of the bus Jurisdictions in the United States (including overseas territories) and Canada have various school bus stop laws requiring traffic to stop for stopped school buses loading or unloading, often for the reasons described above. 11-705 of the 1992 Uniform Vehicle Code (UVC) © by the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Laws and Ordinances is a model law that does not have legal force. Generally, a driver of a vehicle meeting or overtaking from either direction (front or back) a stopped school bus flashing alternating red lamps must stop and not go again until the bus moves again or the red lights are off. On divided highways, most American and Canadian jurisdictions exempt vehicular drivers from stopping school buses on different roadways. The only places with "non-standard" laws (as compared with laws elsewhere) that do require traffic to stop for a school bus on a different roadway of a divided highway are: Image File history File links A 1998 Carpenter rear engine school bus, featuring the unique full size rear emergency door option. ...
Image File history File links A 1998 Carpenter rear engine school bus, featuring the unique full size rear emergency door option. ...
Divided Highway is the fourteenth studio album by American rock band The Doobie Brothers, released in 2003. ...
- Alabama and West Virginia upon a non-controlled-access highway,
- Arkansas in case a divider has less than 20 feet (6 m) in width (narrow divider),
- Mississippi,
- New York State,
- American Samoa,
- Guam,
- British Columbia,
- Nova Scotia,
- Prince Edward Island,
- Northwest Territories, and
- Nunavut.
However, passing stopped school buses illegally can still occur commonly for various reasons at certain places and times. Even though many jurisdictions impose heavy penalties, getting convictions tend to be difficult [1] and therefore make the usefulness of the school bus stop law questionable, as certain other countries not requiring traffic to stop may not have more dangers (see School bus stop laws in other countries below). While passing stopped school bus illegally itself is not considered speeding throughout the United States and Canada, the legally set penalties are without regard to how fast a vehicle is passing illegally, whether 10 km/h or 100 km/h, although passing a stopped school bus at an unusually fast speed may also constitute other violations. State nickname: Camellia State, The Heart of Dixie¹, Yellowhammer State Other U.S. States Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Governor Bob Riley (R) Official languages English Area 52,423 mi²/135,775 km² (30th) - Land 50,750 mi²/131,442 km² - Water 1,673 mi²/4,333 km² (3. ...
State nickname: Mountain State Other U.S. States Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Governor Joe Manchin (D) Official languages English Area 62,809 km² (41st) - Land 62,436 km² - Water 376 km² (0. ...
State nickname: The Natural State Other U.S. States Capital Little Rock Largest city Little Rock Governor Mike Huckabee (R) Official languages English Area 137,732 km² (29th) - Land 134,856 km² - Water 2,876 km² (2. ...
State nickname: Magnolia State Other U.S. States Capital Jackson Largest city Jackson Governor Haley Barbour (R) Official languages English Area 125,546 km² (32nd) - Land 121,606 km² - Water 3,940 km² (3%) Population (2000) - Population 2,697,243 (31st) - Density 23. ...
State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th) - Land 122,409 km² - Water 18,795 km² (13. ...
Motto: Splendor Sine Occasu (Splendour without diminishment) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Area 944,735 km² (5th) Land 925,186 km² Water 19,549 km² (2. ...
Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (One defends and the other conquers) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant Governor Myra A. Freeman Premier John Hamm (PC) Area 55,283 km² (12th) Land 53,338 km² Water 1,946 km² (3. ...
Motto: Parva Sub Ingenti (The small under the protection of the great) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Charlottetown Largest city Charlottetown Lieutenant Governor J. Léonce Bernard Premier Pat Binns (PC) Area 5,660 km² (13th) Land 5,660 km² Water 0 km² (0%) Population (2004) Population 137,900...
Motto: None Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Yellowknife Largest city Yellowknife Commissioner Tony Whitford Premier Joe Handley (Consensus government - no party affiliations) Area 1,346,106 km² (3rd) Land 1,183,085 km² Water 163,021 km² (12. ...
Motto: Nunavut Sannginivut (Inuktitut, Nunavut our strength / Our land our strength) Other Canadian provinces and territories Capital Iqaluit Largest city Iqaluit Commissioner Ann Meekitjuk Hanson Premier Paul Okalik (independent) Area 2,093,190 km² (1st) - Land 1,936,113 km² - Water 157,077 km² (7. ...
Most American and Canadian officials try to reduce passing stopped school buses illegally by increased enforcement and penalties, but its effectiveness is still questionable. In New York State, an official estimate is that 50000 vehicles pass stopped school buses illegally every day [2]. However, as New York State requires traffic to stop for a school bus on a different roadway of a divided highway, unlike most other states in the United States, the estimate may include "New York violations" that may be perfectly legal in other states. In New York City except Staten Island, stopping for stopped school buses were not required as in the rest of New York State. The stopping requirement is now in effect in New York City, but vehicles passing stopped school buses illegally appears to be very common, sometimes several vehicles in less than a minute that makes enforcement extremely difficult. Yet the New York Police Department once reported that this kind of violation rarely happened, presumably because the police could not easily enforce the relevant law. State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th) - Land 122,409 km² - Water 18,795 km² (13. ...
Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the United States, the most densely populated major city in North America, and is at the center of international finance, politics, entertainment, and culture. ...
Staten Island lies to the South West of the rest of New York City. ...
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) , the largest police department in the United States, has primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City. ...
On a national basis, school bus drivers in the United States have reported a decrease in passing violators in recent years with improved warning devices. Despite an increase in traffic and school bus ridership, annual fatalities and injuries to children struck by other vehicles has decreased as well. However, it is unclear whether having reported a decrease in passing violators is due to difficulty to report or better compliance by motorists.
Arguments for full stop for school buses loading and unloading In addition to reasons described above, major arguments used by those, usually inside the United States and Canada, for full stop for school buses loading and unloading include that: - Children may dart out, so traffic must stop.
- Children expect traffic to stop.
- The stopping requirement reduces exposure of motorists to risk of liability for negligence in striking a child who cannot be held as negligent under civil law.
- Allowing traffic to pass stopped school buses at any speed, even at very slow speed that allow quick stop, may encourage speeding by.
Those for full stop for school buses loading and unloading may consider passing stopped school buses illegally a kind of reckless driving or aggressive driving. However, those against full stop for school buses loading and unloading also have their arguments to fight back as well.
Arguments against full stop for school buses loading and unloading Major arguments used by those, whether inside or outside the United States and Canada, against full stop for school buses loading and unloading include that: - As too many vehicles already pass stopped school buses illegally but convicting them is getting too difficult, current school bus stop law is functionally obsolete, collapsing, and hardly enforceable, so it will require radical changes.
- Excessively requiring traffic to stop and wait for stopped school bus decreases public trust like speed traps.
- Requiring traffic to pass stopped school buses at very slow speed that allow quick stop should be better acceptable without increasing risks to children.
- Though unintentionally, some feel that animosity that commuters feel toward school buses may actually transfer to their voting habits when bonds come up for more school funds.
- Children should be better educated to be more careful on the roads.
- Children should not get false sense of safety and protection due to requiring traffic to stop for their getting on or off school buses.
- The police should better direct traffic to stop to better protect any children on a roadway or to go past a stopped school bus when clear instead of wasting resources to enforce hardly enforceable school bus stop law.
Those against full stop for school buses loading and unloading may consider passing stopped school buses illegally a kind of civil disobedience when and where violations frequently occur and conviction rates are low. The term speed trap has several meanings, related to detection of speed limit violations. ...
An anti-war activist is arrested for civil disobedience on the steps of the Supreme Court on February 9, 2005. ...
School bus stop laws in other countries Traffic laws in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, the United Kingdom do mention school buses, but none of them require traffic to stop in the same way as in the United States and Canada. The speed limit is 40 km/h in Australia or 20 km/h in New Zealand when passing a stopped school bus. In New Zealand, the Land Transport Safety Authority once considered that the speed limit passing a stopped school bus should not be raised based on probabilities of pedestrian deaths if hit at different speeds. A speed limit is the maximum speed allowed by law for vehicles on a road. ...
Kilometre per hour (American spelling: kilometer per hour) is a unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector). ...
Structural integrity As the school bus evolved in the United States and Canada as a specialized vehicle, there became concerns for the protection of the school children during major impacts. A weak point and location of structural failure in catastrophic school bus crashes was well-known to be joints, the points were panels and pieces were fastened together. A car accident in Yate, near Bristol, England, in July 2004. ...
Longitudinal steel guard rails had been in use since the 1930s to protect the sides of buses, but behind them on the sides and on the roofs, by the 1960s, all manufacturers were combining many individual steel panels to construct a bus body.
Around 1967, Ward Body Company of Conway, Arkansas subjected one of their school bus bodies to multiple roll, and noted the separation at the joints, as well as pointing out that many of their competitors were using far fewer rivets. This resulted in new attention by all the body companies to the number and quality of fasteners. 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Ward Body Works was a school bus manufacturer based in Conway, Arkansas. ...
Conway is a city located in Faulkner County, Arkansas. ...
Simply increasing the number of fasteners (rivets, screws, and huckbolts) was not enough to satisfy engineers at Wayne Corporation in Richmond, Indiana. In their tests, no matter how many fasteners were used, the joints were always the weak point under high stress loads. They also noted how the continuous guard rails used on the sides tended to spread the stress from a point of impact, allowing it to be shared and dissipated at portions of the body structure further away. advertisement for 1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus on Ford chassis Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses branded with the tradename Wayne. ...
Richmond lies on the flat lands of eastern Indiana. ...
Instead of trying to figure out how to make the fasteners do a better job, they stood back and wondered if the design features of the guard rails could be expanded. The result was a revolutionary new design in school bus construction: Continuous longitudinal interior and exterior panels for the sides and roofs.
Branded the Lifeguard, the new school bus design used Wayne's huge roll-forming presses to make single steel pieces which extended the entire length of the bus body. The concept was that by reducing the number of joints, the number of places where the body could be anticipated to separate in a catastrophic impact was reduced in a like amount.
The "Lifeguard" design reduced overall body weight, the number of fasteners used, and man-hours required for assembly. However, it required the very large roll-form presses and special equipment to handle the panels. A more practical problem was the panels had to be cut to exact length for each bus body order, which varied with seating capacities and from state-to-state. This created a marketing disadvantage as the Wayne factory required greater manufacturing lead time than when parts were more interchangeable between orders under older panel technology.
In the years after Wayne introduced the Lifeguard in the 1973 model year, competing body manufacturers began moving towards using fewer side panels and joints, although none went as far as Wayne in the 1970s. 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ...
Federal standards for school buses The focus on structural integrity resulted in the joint requirements of the U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for school buses, most of which which became applicable for school buses on April 1, 1977. The following, including Standard 221 (joint strength) are generally considered to be the most important, even 25 years later.
Standard No. 217 - Bus Emergency Exits and Window Retention and Release (Effective 1973-9-1) This standard establishes minimum requirements for bus window retention and release to reduce the likelihood of passenger ejection in crashes; and for emergency exits to facilitate passenger exit in emergencies. It also requires that each school bus have an interlock system which will prevent the engine from starting if an emergency door is unlocked and an audible warning system which will sound an alarm if an emergency door release mechanism is not closed while the engine is running.
Standard No. 220 - School Bus Rollover Protection (Effective 1977-4-1) This standard establishes performance requirements for school bus rollover protection. The purpose of this standard is to reduce the number of deaths and the severity of injuries that result from failure of the school bus body structure to withstand forces encountered in rollover crashes.
Standard No. 221 - School Bus Body Joint Strength (Effective 1977-4-1) This standard establishes requirements for the strength of the body panel joints in school bus bodies. The purpose of this standard is to reduce deaths and injuries resulting from the structural collapse of school bus bodies during crashes.
Standard No. 222 - School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection (Effective 1977-4-1) This standard establishes occupant protection requirements for school bus passenger seating and restraining barriers. The purpose of this standard is to reduce the number of deaths and the severity of injuries that result from the impact of school bus occupants against structures within the vehicle during crashes and sudden driving maneuvers.
Standard No. 301 - Fuel System Integrity - School Buses (Effective 1977-4-1) This standard specifies requirements for the integrity of motor vehicle fuel systems. Its purpose is to reduce deaths and injuries occurring from fires that may result from fuel spillage during and after motor vehicle crashes. For the workstation, see SGI Fuel. ...
Continuing efforts to make school bus transportation safer The new Federal Standards of 1977 for school buses represented a quantum leap in school bus safety. Other efforts and innovations were to continue. 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ...
More sophisticated and comprehensive mirror systems were developed to help drivers see children who were off the bus at almost all times. A mirror is a reflective surface that is smooth enough to form an image. ...
Crossing gates were developed to help children avoid walking in the area immediately in front of the bus.
Reflective striping, LED and strobe lights were added in the 1980s and 1990s. Various light-emitting diodes (5 mm reds, 3 mm greens and yellows) A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits incoherent monochromatic light when electrically biased in the forward direction. ...
// Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ...
// Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ...
Modern school buses are often well equipped with amenities lacking only a few years ago such as air conditioning, two-way radios, high headroom roofs and wheelchair lifts (typically those with lifts are shorter than their counterparts and are sometimes exclusively assigned to carry disabled children). Note: in the broadest sense, air conditioning can refer to any form of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning. ...
Wheelchair seating A wheelchair is a device used for mobility by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible, due to illness or disability. ...
The term disability, as it is applied to humans, refers to any condition that impedes the completion of daily tasks using traditional methods. ...
Seat belts in school buses Very few school buses have seat belts, a standard safety feature in cars and light duty passenger vehicles. In 1977, as provided in Standard 222, the federal government required passive restraint and structural integrity standards for school buses in lieu of requiring lap seat belts. In the 1980s, some districts in the US tried installing lap belts and then later removed them, claiming operational and passenger behavior problems. Whether lap belts should be required remains very controversial, although they are now required in at least 4 states (New York, New Jersey, California and Florida). Only one state, out of the four, require seat belt usage, which is New Jersey. Regardless of the law, however, students (except a few very young ones) generally do not wear these belts. A three-point seat belt. ...
1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ...
State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki (R) Official languages None (English is de facto) Area 141,205 km² (27th) - Land 122,409 km² - Water 18,795 km² (13. ...
State nickname: The Garden State Other U.S. States Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Governor Richard Codey (D)Acting Official languages None defined Area 22,608 km² (47th) - Land 19,231 km² - Water 3,378 km² (14. ...
State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd) - Land 404,298 km² - Water 20,047 km² (4. ...
State nickname: Sunshine State Other U.S. States Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Governor Jeb Bush (R) Official languages English Area 170,451 km² (22nd) - Land 137,374 km² - Water 30,486 km² (17. ...
Starting in late 2005, all school buses built new and operating in California are required to have "three-point" safety belts, similar to ones used in the average automobile. The "three-point" belts give greater protection to riders compared to the lap belts, however, it diminishes bus capacity considerably, and will require more new buses to be purchased to offset this loss.
Extending school bus safety standards to church bus operations Church bus and school bus safety have always been closely related issues in the United States. However, they were linked more closely in the aftermath of a tragedy in 1988. 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
A bus accident at Carrollton, Kentucky in 1988 involving a church bus which had been originally built and served as a school bus was one of the worst bus accidents in United States history. The driver and 26 other people, many of them teenagers and younger, were killed in the crash and the ensuing fire, and 34 other bus passengers sustained minor to critical injuries. Only six bus passengers were not injured. The many additional victims include hundreds of families. At a practical level, it is fair to say that a tired, volunteer driver operating a flawed, over-crowded church bus had to face a drunk driver coming up Interstate 71 the wrong way. The site is still marked by a prominent sign. Kentucky DOT signs on both sides of Interstate 71 mark the scene of the bus crash on May 14, 1988 near Carollton, Kentucky The bus accident at Carrollton, Kentucky in 1988 was one of the most disastrous bus accidents in United States history. ...
Interstate 71 is an Interstate Highway in the midwestern United States. ...
It was quickly realized that many factors came together in tragedy that terrible night. While the immediate cause was the drunk driver of the other vehicle, it was additionally realized that most of the deaths on the bus occurred because the occupants could not evacuate promptly after the impact.
Many things needed action to help prevent or at least reduce the possibility of such a tragedy happening again. It was particularly painful to some participants during the aftermath to realize that a contributing factor to the accident itself and the severity were loopholes between the laws and procedures for a school bus and those involving the same vehicle after it became a church bus.
The accident resulted in a National Transportation Safety Board NTSB investigation and report, as well as extensive media coverage and considerable litigation. Subsequently, many federal, state, and local agencies and bus manufacturers changed regulations, vehicle features, and operating practices. One of the key factors in making the event as tragic as it became was the fact that the bus was of an obsolete design which had been abandoned in school bus construction years earlier in which the fuel tank was actually mounted in the front of the bus, which made the spillage of large quantities of fuel almost inevitable in the event of a head-on collision. This bus was also fuel by gasoline rather than the more typical modern choice of diesel fuel. While this sort of bus has long been phased out of school bus usage, many similar buses are still in use as church buses, which are far less regulated, even today. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is a U.S. government independent organization responsible for investigation of accidents involving aviation, highway, marine, pipelines and railroads in the United States. ...
A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in order to recover a right, obtain damages for an injury, obtain an injunction to prevent an injury, or obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes. ...
Gasoline, as it is known in North America, or petrol, in many Commonwealth countries (sometimes also called motor spirit) is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ...
Diesel fuel is a specific fractional distillate of fuel oil (from petroleum) that is used in a diesel engine invented by German engineer Rudolf Diesel, and perfected by Charles F. Kettering. ...
Many of the hundreds of various professional individuals who were involved in aspects of this accident and the aftermath hope that their efforts will contribute to making sure that such a combination of human and vehicle flaws will never result in another tragedy of this magnitude. Yet even over 15 years later, some also feel that it is important to revisit the issues, especially some aspects which could still occur again.
School busing for racial purposes During the era of segregation in the United States, school buses were often used to transport Black students to all-black schools, which were often further away from their homes than other public schools designated for white students. Sometimes, these were in only one or two locations within a entire county or other school district. Segregation means separation. ...
African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ...
Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count. ...
School districts are a form of special-purpose district in the United States and Canada which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools. ...
After the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 that school and other segregation was an unconstitutional violation of rights granted to all citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment, some districts either voluntarily or by court order introduced new pupil assignment plans to promote racial desegregation. School districts in such situations were spread across virtually the entire United States, including those of many cities such as Los Angeles, California, Boston, Massachusetts, Wichita, Kansas, Cleveland, Ohio, and Norfolk, Virginia. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States...
In Topeka, Kansas, a black third-grader named Linda Brown had to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard to get to her black elementary school, even though a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. ...
1954 was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Amendment XIV (the Fourteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution is one of the post-Civil War amendments and includes the due process and equal protection clauses (Section 1). ...
Desegregation is the process of ending racial segregation, most commonly used in reference to the United States. ...
The City of Los Angeles (from Spanish Los Ãngeles , meaning the angels), also known as L.A., is the second-largest city in the United States in terms of population, as well as one of the worlds most important economic, cultural, and entertainment centers. ...
Nickname: Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe), Athens of America Location in Massachusetts Founded -Incorporated September 17, 1630 1820, as a city County Suffolk County Mayor Thomas Menino (Dem) Area - Total - Water 232. ...
Wichita, the Air Capital, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, as well as a major aircraft manufacturing hub and cultural center. ...
City nickname: The Forest City Location Location in Cuyahoga County, Ohio Government County Cuyahoga Mayor Jane Campbell Physical characteristics Area Land Water 213. ...
Norfolk is a city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States of America. ...
The desegregation plans usually resulted in more pupils of all races assigned to schools further from their homes than before. School buses (and city transit buses in some instances) were often used to transport the students reassigned to different schools beyond a reasonable walking distance. Opponents of this concept began to decry the practice as "forced busing". Forced busing is the concept of achieving racial or economic integration in United States public schools by transporting schoolchildren to schools outside their area of residence. ...
In cities such as Richmond, Virginia, when a massive program began in 1971, parents of all races complained about the long rides, hardships with transportation for extra-curricular activities, and the separation of siblings when elementary schools at opposite sides of the city were "paired," (i.e. splitting lower and upper elementary grades into separate schools). Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States of America. ...
1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ...
In an effort to satisfy parents concerned about mandated long bus rides, many districts such as Richmond later modified their pupil placement plans to provide attractive programs in "magnet schools", and built new school buildings and reconfigured older buildings to develop logistically more favorable attendance plans which met desegregation goals. Combined with changes in housing patterns, the forced busing programs were gradually eliminated as the courts nationwide released districts from orders under old lawsuits. In the U.S. system of education, a magnet school is a public school that draws students interested in specific subjects such as academics or the arts from the surrounding region (typically a school district or a county). ...
Today, school buses are still used in most of these districts, but this is much more due to reduced walking zones, concern for pupil safety, and a wider choice of programs and locations for many students.
Statistics In the United States, according to statistics from 2003, there are over 450,000 school buses providing transportation nationwide 5 days a week for 23.5 million elementary & secondary school children -- twice daily. That's about 47 million trips -- before adding 5 million more for day activities & weekend trips. That means approximately 54% of all K-12 students in the country ride yellow school buses. Source: [3] 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Retired school buses
 A retired 1961 Thomas International school bus, that was restored by a school bus enthusiast. When a school bus is retired from school transportation in the United States, most states have requirements that school bus lettering must be covered or removed and warning devices deactivated or removed. At least one state prohibits non-school buses from being more than 50% yellow, reserving the color on buses for school buses only. Regulations vary from state to state. Image File history File links 1961 Thomas International school bus. ...
Image File history File links 1961 Thomas International school bus. ...
The large quantity of school buses retired from daily service has helped develop a wide range of uses for them.
Passenger transport - Many retired school buses are later sold to churches and used to transport elderly and mobility impaired worshipers to and from church services or to transport youth groups for outings to amusement parks, picnics, and visiting other churches.
- Some used school buses are shipped to Latin America and occasionally Africa for use as municipal transportation, transportation of migrant farmworkers, or even rededicated to pupil transport.
Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ...
Africa is the worlds second-largest continent and second most populous after Asia. ...
Non-passenger use - Retired school buses have also been converted to motor homes and recreational vehicles. Enthusiasts of this type of vehicle conversion are sometimes called "schoolies."
- Some former school buses have been converted to mobile stores, workshops, ATV haulers, or are used for general hauling as a form of medium duty truck when short distances and/or moderate speeds constitute the operating environment.
- On occasion, retired school buses are used for auto racing, often re-painted with garish designs, as a comic attraction at county fairs in the USA. They are also popular in some forms of demolition derby, often demolished at the same fair after having raced.
- Inoperable buses or bus bodies have often become storage units.
- Some retired school buses get purchased by school bus enthusiasts and get restored into brand new pristine condition.
Recreational Vehicle (RV) is a broad term used to describe a large enclosed piece of equipment with wheels designed to be moved from place to place for people to temporarily live in and be protected from the elements while away from their permanent domicile. ...
Recreational Vehicle (or RV) is a term used to describe a large enclosed piece of equipment with wheels designed to be moved from place to place for people to temporarily live in and be protected from the elements while away from their permanent home. ...
Auto racing (also known as automobile racing, autosport or motorsport) is a sport involving racing automobiles. ...
Fair is the name for the gathering together of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Demolition derby. ...
School Bus Manufacturers In 1980, in the U.S., there were six major school bus body companies building large school buses, mostly making bodies for chassis from four truck manufacturers. Twenty years later, there were only three body builders left, and a consolidation of two with truck manufacturers reduced the model selection further. Long-term industry names such as Superior, Ward, Wayne and Carpenter became fallen flags. Several small bus manufacturers developed niche markets during this period.
 A new 2006 Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 school bus. The Saf-T-Liner C2 features a new design for the school bus industry, which is a much different approach to the classic styling usually seen. 2006 Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 school bus. ...
2006 Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 school bus. ...
Current school bus manufacturers The Blue Bird Corporation is a large manufacturer of buses. ...
Collins Bus Corporation is a United States company that specializes in manufacturing and sales of the smaller school bus. ...
Corbeil Buses make customized minibuses for commercal customers. ...
IC Corporation is a producer of school buses in the United States. ...
Navistar International Corporation (NYSE: NAV) is the parent company of International Truck and Engine Corporation, a leading producer of mid-range diesel engines, medium trucks, heavy trucks, severe service vehicles, and parts and service sold under the International® brand. ...
International Harvester was an American corporation based in Chicago that produced a multitude of agricultural machinery and vehicles. ...
IC Corporation is a producer of school buses in the United States. ...
Midbus specializes in manufacturing customized school bus in Bluffton, Ohio and is a unit of Collins Bus Corporation. ...
Thomas Built Buses, Inc. ...
U.S. Bus Corporation specializes in customized school bus. ...
Historical school bus manufacturers (all are now defunct) School bus manufacturer, formerly known as Ward Body Company, headquartered in Conway, Arkansas. ...
The Carpenter Body Company, also known as the Ralph H. Carpenter Body Company, Carpenter Body Works, Inc. ...
Crown Coach was once a school bus manufacturer (1930s to 1980s) based in Los Angeles, California. ...
The Hackney Brothers Body Company was founded in 1852 in Nash County, North Carolina as a coach and wagon maker and in later years manufactured ambulances, refrigerated trucks and school buses. ...
Liberty Bus Incorporated was a school bus manufacturer. ...
Superior Coach was once a school bus manufacturer, but today it focus on building hearses and is located in Lima, Ohio. ...
Ward Body Works was a school bus manufacturer based in Conway, Arkansas. ...
advertisement for 1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus on Ford chassis Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses branded with the tradename Wayne. ...
advertisement for 1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus on Ford chassis Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses branded with the tradename Wayne. ...
Models Note: this is a very partial and incomplete listing of some models of school buses in the United States, either current, or former. - Ford B700 standard bus (former)
- Ford E350, E450 minibus (Econoline)
- Girardin Minibus on Ford, GM Chassis
- IC Corporation CE, RE, FE
- International Corporation 3300
- Wayne Corporation Lifeguard (former)
- Wayne Corporation Lifestar (GM S7 chassis, former)
- Wayne Corporation Busette (former)
- Wayne Corporation Transette (former)
- Blue Bird Corporation TC-2000 (former)
- Blue Bird Corporation Micro Bird with Ford or GM Chassis
- Blue Bird Corporation Vision
- Blue Bird Corporation All-American RE and FE
- Thomas Built Buses, Inc. Saf-T-Liner C2
- Thomas Built Buses, Inc. HDX, EF, FS-65, Minotour on Ford or GM Chassis
Ford may mean a number of things: A ford is a river crossing. ...
Ford may mean a number of things: A ford is a river crossing. ...
Girardin Minibus specializes in custom order buses and is based in Quebec ,Canada. ...
IC Corporation is a producer of school buses in the United States. ...
Navistar International Corporation NYSE: NAV is the parent company of International Truck and Engine Corporation, a leading producer of mid-range diesel engines, medium trucks, heavy trucks, severe service vehicles, and parts and service sold under the International® brand. ...
advertisement for 1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus on Ford chassis Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses branded with the tradename Wayne. ...
advertisement for 1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus on Ford chassis Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses branded with the tradename Wayne. ...
advertisement for 1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus on Ford chassis Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses branded with the tradename Wayne. ...
advertisement for 1973 Wayne Lifeguard School Bus on Ford chassis Wayne Corporation was a large manufacturer of buses branded with the tradename Wayne. ...
The Blue Bird Corporation is a large manufacturer of buses. ...
The Blue Bird Corporation is a large manufacturer of buses. ...
The Blue Bird Corporation is a large manufacturer of buses. ...
The Blue Bird Corporation is a large manufacturer of buses. ...
Thomas Built Buses, Inc. ...
Thomas Built Buses, Inc. ...
See Also A bus is a large wheeled vehicle, intended to carry numerous persons in addition to the driver. ...
Church bus and school bus safety issues have always been closely-related in the United States. ...
Navistar International Corporation NYSE: NAV is the parent company of International Truck and Engine Corporation, a leading producer of mid-range diesel engines, medium trucks, heavy trucks, severe service vehicles, and parts and service sold under the International® brand. ...
One of Laidlaws 40,000 yellow school buses Laidlaw, currently organized as Laidlaw International, Inc. ...
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