SPECIAL REPORT
reportedly treated and released from the hospital, and children 10 to 14 years of age accounted for the greatest proportion of injuries, 43 percent, compared with all other age groups. Head injuries accounted for more than half (52.1 percent) of all injuries among children younger than 10. Lower extremity injuries were more common among children 10 to 19 years of age. Strains and sprains accounted for the highest percentage of all injuries, followed by contusions, abrasions and lacerations. More than three-quarters of lacerations were to the head. “Although seatbelts have the potential to influence
some of the injuries in the 42.3 percent of cases involv- ing motor vehicle crashes in this study, we were unable to determine whether seatbelts would have prevented these motor vehicle crash–related injuries because of lack of sufficient detail in the narratives,” the report states. “This limitation also makes it difficult to estimate the impact that seatbelts or other preventive strategies might have had on injuries from boarding/alighting, slip/fall, traffic non-crash events, or other/unknown mechanisms of injury.” The report added that supervision can also play a role
in reducing school bus-related injuries. The American Academy of Pediatrics, which authored the report, recom- mends “supervision focusing on keeping children seated, ensuring the use of seatbelts when available, and ensur- ing safe behavior while riding the bus,” the report states. “This would best be accomplished with an adult other than the bus driver on the bus. The presence of a second adult on the school bus may also prevent driver distrac- tion by providing a monitor to supervise passengers and allowing the driver to focus on the road. Supervision may also play an important role in reducing boarding and alighting injuries; helping to maintain crowd control, pushing, and shoving; and assuring safe embarkment and disembarkment.” The study was the first of its kind, but this summer the
lead author indicated to STN there are currently no plans to update the study. The National Safety Council (NSC) also reports on school-bus related crashes and the injuries that result every year. The NSC injury data is tabulated from the NHTSA crash report sampling system, resulting in incon- clusive data for school busing, a spokesperson said.
16 School Transportation News • SEPTEMBER 2023
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