HAUPPAUGE, NY- Patch.com reports that a collision involving a school bus caused injuries to a 10-year-old traveling on the bus and to another driver. The crash involved three vehicles, including the bus. There were 17 students on the bus when it was struck by two cars.
The driver of the Toyota was brought to Southside Hospital for treatment of minor injuries. One child aboard the bus also suffered minor injuries and was taken to Saint Catherine of Siena Medical Center.
Fatal accidents involving school buses are uncommon. Even in cases where school buses are involved in fatal crashes, the people killed are typically other motorists, pedestrians or cyclists. This is in part becauseof the fact that school buses are designed to be especially safe. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), school bus safety standards are higher than the standards for regular buses, making these vehicles the safest on the road. School bus design includes making them highly visible, using flashing lights, stop-sign arms, cross-view mirrors, rollover protection and high crush standards. Interestingly, school buses are designed to protect students without the use of seatbelts. While passenger vehicles have been legally required to include seatbelts since 1968, large school buses are designed to not need seat belts. Smaller school buses are still required to have seatbelts. Statistically, a child is 70 times more likely to get to school safely when traveling in a school bus as compared to traveling by car.
