The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent federal agency that studies accident and crash phenomena. It has examined numerous school bus accidents and conducted several comprehensive studies of school bus safety.

WASHINGTON, DC (June 8, 2006) - The National Transportation Safety Board released a national status report on implementing pupil transportation safety recommendations as part of its "Most Wanted List" of recommended transportation safety improvements and found a majority of states have failed to take any action on following up on  federal law passed last summer in the form of the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) . It prohibits nonconforming vans in school bus transportation and closes a loophole that previously only penalized dealerships from selling the vehicles to school districts. Twenty-five states from Connecticut to Hawaii have taken limited or no action, including the District of Columbia, NTSB reported. Another 15 states have implemented limited or partial restrictions on so-called 15-passenger vans, and only 10 states prohibit the vehicles from transporting children to all schools and day care centers. Click here to view a PDF map of the United States showing the Use of Nonconforming Buses for School Children.

Safety recommendation letter from National Transportation Safety Board to William Clay Ford, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Office, Ford Motor Company and Mr. G. Richard Wagoner, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, General Motors Corporation. [182 KB] On Nov. 2, 2002 NTSB recommended to automakers they install electronic stability control systems to assist drivers in maintaining control of 15-passenger vans.

Safety Report: Evaluation of the Rollover Propensity of 15-Passenger Vans (Oct. 15, 2002) Fifteen-passenger vans are involved in a higher number of single vehicle accidents involving rollovers than other any other vehicle.Various factors have been associated with 15-passenger van rollovers, particularly occupancy level and vehicle speed. Fully loaded or partially loaded, a 15-passenger van causes the center of gravity to move rearward and upward which increases the rollover propensity of the vehicle. In this 50 page report, the NTSB issues safety recommendations to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and to the manufacturers of 15-passenger vans.

Safety Recommendation H-99-26: "Disturbed by a trend toward using nonconforming vehicles rather than school buses in pupil transportation," the NTSB recommended to the Community Transportation Association of America that it inform its members of the circumstances surrounding an accident involving a non-conforming van used in student transport in East Dublin, Ga., and of the added safety benefits of transporting children by school bus. NTSB also recommended taht CTAA encourage its members to use buses built to federal school bus structural standards or equivalent to transport children.

Highway Special Investigation Report: This study by the National Transportation Safety Board examines pupil transportation in vehicles not meeting federal school bus standards. Visit the NTSB website to read a synopsis of the full study titled, "Pupil Transportation Vehicles Not Meeting Federal School Bus Safety Standards." The full 78-page report is presented in PDF format and requires Acrobat Reader to view.

Comment by David Decsman, director of transportation for Toledo Public Schools, about the NTSB findings about non-conforming vans.

Putting Children First: This publication outlines many of the tragic lessons learned from accidents involving children as well as the recent changes that have been made to prevent future accidents. It also discusses many of the child safety challenges the Safety Board believes still need to be addressed. Of particular interest to school transporters are the sections titled School Transportation for Children and Passenger Vans Used for School Activities. [This is a PDF document and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader]