HEADLINES Survey Looks at School Bus Wheelchair Issues Researchers Patricia Karg, Mary Ellen


Buning and Karen Frost of the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology at the University of Pittsburgh recently submitted a paper that looks at the varia- tions among states concerning wheelchair transportation safety and found that a number of states’ policies do not edu- cate parents on the safety advantages of WC19-compliant wheelchairs. Te sur- vey also found that more than half of the states that responded do not have policies that address the types of wheelchairs used as seats in school vehicles.


❝


pant restraint systems and wheelchair lift procedures; how states integrate the National School Transportation Speci- fications and Procedures (NSTSP) into its policies; the use of WC19-compliant wheelchairs; driver training; and data on incidents involving wheelchair-seated students. Te recently published 2010 NSTSP includes an incident reporting sheet that would allow data collection on any incident for any student, in- cluding the necessary data fields for a wheelchair-seated student or a specially equipped bus.


It seems strange to me that school transpor-


tation administrators don’t have any metrics for determining the size of the enterprise, estimates of per pupil cost, their rates of suc- cess (or failure!), or any measures that would help them increase efficiency, reduce cost or improve performance.


❞ Mary Ellen Buning, University of Pittsburgh Department of Rehabilitation Science & Technology transportation


“It seems strange to me that school administrators


“Tis was developed with input from don’t


have any metrics for determining the size of the enterprise, estimates of per pupil cost, their rates of success (or fail- ure!), or any measures that would help them increase efficiency, reduce cost or improve performance,” said Buning, adding that she believes parents, advo- cates and the “tax-paying” public would be very upset to know about this lack of data and accountability. With funding from the Rehabilita-


tion Engineering Research Center on Wheelchair Transportation Safety, the authors developed an additional survey that was sent to state directors to learn more about wheelchair tie-down, occu-


the RERC staff and incorporated without debate,” said Buning. “Te University of Michigan Transportation Research In- stitute has even offered to develop an electronic database and manage the states’ incident data. Of course, this would require a subsidy but could really support improved accident/injury tracking.” Karg sees a need for better data on the


number of wheelchair-seated students, the number and types of lift-equipped vehicles, the type and quality of wheel- chair transportation training drivers and attendants are receiving, and targeted transportation statistics. “[Tis] could be used to better char- acterize and understand this segment of


22 School Transportation News Magazine February 2011


the student population being transported and to quantify injury risk when used in conjunction with the better injury data,” said Karg. “Tis level of data collection will hopefully provide more insight into the use and benefit of wheelchair trans- portation safety technologies, including WC19-compliant wheelchairs.” After conducting a focus group made


up of members of NASDPTS, the authors developed and delivered the survey, which received responses from a total of 33 states. Concerning the use of WC19- compliant wheelchairs, 83 percent of the 29 states that responded to these specific questions indicated they were aware of the voluntary safety standard for WC19 wheelchairs used as seats, with 68 per- cent indicating that their policies do not address the specific types of wheelchairs used in school buses. A total of 73 per- cent responded that “there was no effort at the state level to educate parents on potential advantages of a WC19-compli- ant wheelchair.” Concerning


the adoption of the


equipment specifications of the NSTSP, 24 percent answered that they have ad- opted all of them, 62 percent said some of the specs were adopted and 14 per- cent have not adopted any. When it comes to detailing the involvement of wheelchair-bound students in accidents, 84 percent of 25 respondents indicated that the state’s incident report form does not specify whether the accident occurred on a wheelchair-equipped bus. It also does not indicate if any students were seated in wheelchairs for 88 per- cent of the same states. At this writing, Karg, Buning and Frost


were in the final stages of preparing an- other survey that will be directed to school bus drivers. “We will ask school bus drivers similar


questions but more focused on the routes they drive, their passengers, the equip- ment they use each day and specifics about their training,” added Buning. ■


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