School Bus Safety Misses Kids Like Marcus

By Ryan Gray

Crashes happen. They are a byproduct of life. But accidents they rarely are. Usually, a traffic collision results from some sort of operator error. Short of a vehicle malfunction, they usually arise due to driver behavior that could have been avoided. That's a testament to safety of school bus drivers, as on average six children die on-board the bus each year.

I know, one is too many, but school buses do represent the safest form of ground transportation in America. The federal government admits as much. But does such a claim also pays disservice to the 8,500 or so children who are injured as a result of crashes, whether those be the fault of school bus driver or other motorists.

One of these students is Marcus Button, a Tampa Bay, Fla., teen who suffered life altering injuries as a result of a 2007 crash that resulted when a school bus driver failed yield the right of way. The boy and his parents are suing the Pasco County school district, and the trial started late last month.

Marcus detailed on the stand how the brain damage he suffered took away his sense of smell and most of his sense of taste. He was hospitalized for three months following the accident and underwent several surgies to repair his broken face.

The plot thickens, however, when you realize that Marcus was not riding on the school bus but in a friend's car. Would the teen be preparing for the upcoming college academic year, parties and football games this fall had he been on the yellow bus instead of struggling to even walk? Perhaps. Regardless, it serves as a reminder that school bus operators cannot forget those students who for whatever reason don't ride the bus, whether they choose not to or are ineligible to ride in the first place. And with the economy and resulting reductions or all out cuts to school transportation, those numbers are growing.

It also puts a face the thousands of students who do ride the school bus but are injured in crashes. Most are minor, but life-altering injuries occur there, too. In two years, all newly manufactured small school buses must be equipped with lap/shoulder restraints. They will remain an option on all large buses.

It will be interesting to not only see data on how many serious injuries will be reduced by seat belts but how the technology might school buses seem even safer to parents and kids like Marcus who chose not to utilize the service. It might just positively alter thousands of additional lives.