Trust the Bus Challenge

  1. How much safer is the yellow school bus than mom or dad’s car?
    1. 2 times safer
    2. 8 times safer
    3. 13 times safer
    4. 23 times safer
    Answer: C – The yellow school bus is the safest mode of transportation for our nation’s school children. The school bus is 13 times safer than other non-commercial vehicles, including mom and dad’s car. (Source: Transportation Research Board, “The Relative Risks of School Travel,” 2002). Of the average 42,000 deaths from traffic accidents every year in the United States, only nine are in school buses (Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration/National Center for Statistics & Analysis).
  2. How are public yellow school buses funded?
    1. Federal Government
    2. State Government and Local School Districts
    3. Bake sales
    4. All of the above
    Answer: B – The yellow school bus receives no funding from the Federal Government and is funded entirely by State Governments and Local School Districts through tax dollars and grants. Although the federal government sets requirements for school buses such as pollution limits and safety features, and collects excise taxes on gasoline used by school buses, it does not provide any funding to meet these or other expenses.
  3. How many school buses travel the nation’s roads every day?
    1. 10,000
    2. 75,000
    3. 113,000
    4. 470,000
    Answer: D – School bus carriers operate the largest mass transportation fleet in the country. Each day, 480,000 yellow school buses travel the nation’s roads. Compare that with 131,000 total transit vehicles, 6,300 airplanes and 2,000 passenger rail cars. The school bus fleet is almost three times the size of all other forms of mass transportation combined. (Source: National School Transportation Association)
  4. School bus drivers must undergo rigorous written and skills tests; pre-employment and ongoing drug testing; medical evaluations; and FBI background checks.
    1. True
    2. False
    Answer: A – The days of allowing high-school students to drive school buses are long gone. Today, school bus drivers are the most highly trained, tested and scrutinized drivers on the road. Regulation at the federal level requires that all school bus drivers must obtain a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). An applicant for a CDL must be at least 18 years old (21 to drive outside the licensing state) and must pass written and skills tests and obtain a School Bus Endorsement. Most states require drug and alcohol testing before and during employment, physical examinations and FBI-criminal and driver-history background checks. Once they have their licenses, school bus drivers are carefully monitored by the school district and/or company that manages school bus fleets. Drivers can be disqualified from driving a bus for as few as two traffic violations. School bus drivers also receive continuing education and training on topics such as behavior management of students, vehicle inspection and first aid. (Source: National School Transportation Association)
  5. About how many students ride the school bus on a regular basis?
    1. 1 million
    2. 6 million
    3. 10 million
    4. 26 million
    Answer: D – 26 million – more than half of the nation’s school children -- ride the school bus every school day. Because the school bus is the safest way for children to get to school, the more that ride the bus, the fewer that are likely to be seriously injured on their way to or from school. The school bus is not only safe, but also convenient, reliable and cost effective. (Source: National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences.)
  6. In how many states are car drivers required to stop when the red school bus lights are flashing?
    1. 7
    2. 12
    3. 25
    4. 32
    5. 50
    Answer: E – 50 states. Laws in all 50 states require that drivers stop when the red lights are flashing indicating that the school bus is loading or unloading passengers. It is never legal to pass a school bus from behind when the red lights are flashing, and it is generally illegal to pass such a school bus when traveling in the opposite direction. In a few states, it is legal to pass a stopped school bus with flashing red lights when traveling in the opposite direction on a divided highway. The school bus is the only vehicle other than police and fire/rescue vehicles that can legally stop traffic.
  7. How much cleaner are the exhaust emissions from a school bus built in 2007 compared to one built before 1990?
    1. They are the same
    2. Twice as clean
    3. 10 times as clean
    4. 60 times as clean
    Answer: D – 60 times as clean. New technologies and pollution control devices have made new school buses produce only a small fraction of the pollution they generated before 1990. (Source: Environmental Protection Agency.) As older buses are replaced with newer, cleaner-burning ones, they will further reduce our air pollution while improving fuel efficiency. If all 26 million children who ride the school bus each day were driven to school in separate cars instead, thousands of tons of additional pollutants would enter the air each year. School bus manufacturers also are making large investments in new diesel, natural-gas, electric hybrid and other engines to further reduce pollution.

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