NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590

Traffic Safety Facts

2007 Data

DOT HS 810 997

School Transportation-Related Crashes

“An average of 19 schoolage children die in school 

transportation-related 

traffic crashes each year 

— 5 occupants of school 

transportation vehicles 

and 14 pedestrians.”

A school transportation-related crash is a crash which involves, either directly 

or indirectly, a school bus body vehicle, or a non-school bus functioning as a 

school bus, transporting children to or from school or school-related activities.

Since 1997 there have been about 417,519 fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes. Of 

those, 0.33 percent (1,389) were classified as school transportation-related. 

Since 1997, 1,541 people have died in school transportation-related crashes — an 

average of 140 fatalities per year. Most of the people who lost their lives in those 

crashes (73%) were occupants of other vehicles involved. Nonoccupants (pedestrians, bicyclists, etc.) accounted for 20 percent of the deaths, and occupants of 

school transportation vehicles accounted for 7 percent.

Since 1997, 152 school-age pedestrians (younger than 19) have died in school 

transportation-related crashes. Over two-thirds (69%) were killed by school buses, 

7 percent by vehicles functioning as school buses, and 24 percent by other vehicles involved in the crashes. One-half (50%) of all school-age pedestrians killed 

in school transportation-related crashes were between the ages of 5 and 7. 

Figure 1

Total Occupant and Pedestrian Fatalities in School Transportation-Related 

Crashes, by Age Group, 1997-2007

Note: Occupant fatalities shown are for occupants of school buses and non-school buses used as school buses.

<5

5-7

Occupants Pedestrians

8-13

14-18

19+

Age Group (Years)

Number of Fatalities (11-Year Total)

0 20 40 60 80 100 120
NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590

2

On average, 14 school-age pedestrians are killed by school transportation vehicles 

(school buses and non-school bus vehicles used as school buses) each year, and 3 

are killed by other vehicles involved in school bus-related crashes.

More school-age pedestrians have been killed between the hours of 3 and 4 p.m. 

than any other time of day.

Table 1

Fatalities in School Transportation-Related Crashes by Time of Day, 1997-2007

Time of Day Occupants* 

Pedestrians 

(School Age) Total

Midnight-6:59 a.m.

7-7:59 a.m. 

8-8:59 a.m. 

9-9:59 a.m. 

10-10:59 a.m. 

11-11:59 a.m. 

10

20

11

4

8

0

11

28

14

2

0

5

21

48

25

6

8

5

Noon-12:59 p.m. 2 2 4

1-1:59 p.m. 0 6 6 

2-2:59 p.m. 17 20 37

3-3:59 p.m. 22 49 71

4-4:59 p.m. 8 12 20

5-11:59 p.m. 7 3 10

11-Year Total 109 152 261

*Does not include occupants of other vehicles in school transportation-related crashes.

Between 1997 and 2007, 90 crashes occurred in which at least one occupant of a 

school transportation vehicle died. More than half of those crashes (60%) involved 

at least one other vehicle. In the 36 single-vehicle crashes, 43 occupants — 16 drivers 

and 27 passengers — were killed. In the 54 multiple-vehicle crashes, 34 drivers and 32 

passengers died. In the 36 single-vehicle crashes, the first harmful events were as follows: striking a fixed object (22 crashes), a person falling from the vehicle (4 crashes), 

the vehicle overturning (4 crashes), the vehicle colliding with a train (2 crashes), other 

non-collision (1 crash), and collision with a non-fixed object (1 crash).

In 57 percent of all crashes involving fatalities to occupants of a school transportation 

vehicle, the principal point of impact was the front of the vehicle.

Since 1997, three drivers and no passengers have died in school bus body vehicles 

providing transportation for purposes other than school or school-related activities 

(churches, civic organizations, etc.). In 1987, one such multi-vehicle crash resulted in 

the deaths of 27 occupants, including the driver.

“From 1997 to 2007, 

one-half of the schoolage pedestrians 

killed in school 

transportation-related 

crashes were between 

5 and 7 years old.”
NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590

3

“Impacts to the 

front of the school 

transportation 

vehicle occur in 57 

percent of fatal school 

transportation-related 

crashes.”

Table 2

Total Occupant Fatalities in School Transportation-Related Crashes by Principal 

Impact Point on School Transportation Vehicle, 1997-2007

Principal Impact 

Point on School 

Transportation 

Vehicle

Type of Crash

Single-Vehicle Multiple-Vehicle Total

Crashes Fatalities Crashes Fatalities Crashes Fatalities

Front 16 20 35 45 51 65

Right Side 6 8 9 11 15 19

Left Side 3 4 8 8 11 12

Rear 3 3 1 1 4 4

Top 0 0 0 0 0 0

Undercarriage 0 0 0 0 0 0

Non-Collision 7 7 0 0 7 7

Other/Unknown 1 1 1 1 2 2

11-Year Total 36 43 54 66 90 109

Table 3

School-Age Pedestrians Killed in School Transportation-Related Crashes 

By Vehicle Maneuver, 1997-2007

Vehicle Maneuver

School Bus 

Body Type 

Vehicle 

Used as 

School Bus

Other Body 

Type Total

Going Straight 

Slowing or Stopping in 

Traffic Lane 

Starting in Traffic Lane 

Passing or Overtaking Another 

Vehicle 

Leaving a Parked Position 

Maneuvering to Avoid 

an Animal, Pedestrian, 

Object, Other Vehicle, etc.

Turning Right 

Turning Left 

Backing Up (Other Than 

 for Parking) 

Negotiating a Curve 

Entering Parked Position 

Changing Lanes 

49

2

27

0

4

0

8

13

0

1

1

0

4

0

3

0

0

0

0

1

1

1

0

0

24

0

0

9

0

2

0

0

0

1

0

1

77

2

30

9

4

2

8

14

1

3

1

1

11-Year Total 105 10 37 152

For more information:

Information on traffic fatalities is available from the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, NVS-424, 1200 New Jersey 

Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590. NCSA can be contacted at 800-934-8517. Fax messages should be sent to 202-366-7078. General 

information on highway traffic safety can be accessed by Internet users at www.nhtsa.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/ncsa. To report a 

safety-related problem or to inquire about motor vehicle safety information, contact the Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236.

Other fact sheets available from the National Center for Statistics and Analysis are Overview, Alcohol, African American, Bicyclists 

and Other Cyclists (formerly titled Pedalcyclists), Children, Hispanic, Large Trucks, Motorcycles, Occupant Protection, Older Population, 

Pedestrians, Race and Ethnicity, Rural/Urban Comparisons, Speeding, State Alcohol Estimates, State Traffic Data, and Young Drivers. Detailed 

data on motor vehicle traffic crashes are published annually in Traffic Safety Facts: A Compilation of Motor Vehicle Crash Data from 

the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the General Estimates System. The fact sheets and annual Traffic Safety Facts report can be 

accessed online at www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/CATS.
4

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590

Table 4 

School Transportation-Related Crashes Involving Occupant Fatalities, 1997-2007 

Year

School Bus Body Type Vehicle Used as School Bus Total

Single-Vehicle 

Crash 

Multiple-Vehicle 

Crash

Single-Vehicle 

Crash 

Multiple-Vehicle 

Crash

Single-Vehicle 

Crash 

Multiple-Vehicle 

Crash

Crashes Fatalities Crashes Fatalities Crashes Fatalities Crashes Fatalities Crashes Fatalities Crashes Fatalities

1997 0 0 5 8 1 1 1 1 1 1 6 9

1998 1 2 4 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 4 4

1999 2 2 6 6 0 0 2 2 2 2 8 8

2000 7 9 6 7 2 2 2 3 9 11 8 10

2001 5 9 6 8 1 1 0 0 6 10 6 8

2002 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 2 1 1

2003 5 5 2 2 3 3 1 1 8 8 3 3

2004 2 2 5 5 0 0 0 0 2 2 5 5

2005 3 3 4 5 0 0 2 2 3 3 6 7

2006 0 0 3 6 0 0 2 2 0 0 5 8

2007 2 2 1 1 0 0 1 2 2 2 2 3

Total 28 35 43 53 8 8 11 13 36 43 54 66

Average 3 3 4 5 1 1 1 1 3 4 5 6

Note: Does not include occupants of other vehicles in school transportation-related crashes.

Table 5

Fatalities in School Transportation-Related Crashes, 1997-2007 

Year

Occupants of School 

Transportation Vehicle* Pedestrians

Other NonoccupantsOccupants of 

Driver Passenger Total Other Vehicles Total

Struck by School 

Vehicle*

Struck by 

Other Vehicle Total

1997 5 5 10 17 2 19 5 97 131

1998 3 3 6 21 3 24 7 91 128

1999 6 4 10 20 6 26 4 127 167

2000 8 13 21 19 7 26 1 99 147

2001 6 12 18 18 4 22 6 95 141

2002 1 2 3 16 4 20 6 100 129

2003 6 5 11 22 5 27 2 100 140

2004 3 4 7 27 3 30 3 93 133

2005 5 5 10 27 3 30 7 87 134

2006 3 5 8 19 3 22 2 118 150

2007 4 1 5 15 2 18** 6 112 141

Total 50 59 109 221 42 264 49 1,119 1,541

Average 5 5 10 20 4 24 4 102 140

*Includes school bus body type and non-school bus used as school bus.

** Includes 1 pedestrian fatality in which the striking vehicle was not identified.