While most of the standards have changed, and many more state and federal rules have been added, the familiar hue endures and is on file with the National Bureau of Standards. And because of the strict regulations, they're considered the safest way to get to school, beating walking, bicycles, and Mom and Dad's car. Very few are killed as passengers inside their school buses. By comparison, roughly 5,500 children die each year in accidents involving other types of vehicles. And while the current figures on school bus fatalities are a vast improvement from years past, much remains to be done, Finkle says.
Seat belts are the biggest unresolved safety issue.
Though school bus seats are already designed to cushion children in most crashes, some safety groups say adding seat belts would help safeguard students in the event of rollover accidents or side-impact collisions. And drivers say they would have a hard time ensuring that each child was properly buckled in. Carolyn Thornton has driven a school bus for the Princeton City schools outside of Cincinnati for 25 years. In 1939, state officials, school leaders, and bus engineers met and adopted standards for the nation's school buses, including the shade of yellow that was soon known as National School Bus Chrome. Read the School Transportation News on school bus safety .