An
Open Letter from NAPT, NSTA & NASDPTS to
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Mr. Tom Johnson March 17, 1998 Dear Mr. Johnson: Like many others, we saw the CNN IMPACT television special "Danger: School Buses", which aired on January 18th and 19th and again on March 15th and 16th, 1998. As representatives of the three associations that represent the school transportation industry, we were surprised and disappointed that the industry was not offered an opportunity to work with you while you were developing and/or refining the show. More importantly, we are extremely distressed that you reported on such an important topic with such profound bias. The safety of student transportation is a subject that should not be taken lightly, much less misrepresented. Parents who saw the IMPACT segment have been misinformed about the safety of school bus transportation. The real tragedy of your reporting, however, is that you had an opportunity to inform parents that school buses are the safest way of getting children to and from school and school-related activities but did not do so. Instead, now, these parents may be needlessly frightened about putting their children on the safest form of transportation in America, or worse, may think it is safer to take their children to school in their own vehicles when, in fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. Our associations have developed a discussion paper that provides a thorough review of the issues you raised in the show, particularly with respect to the accuracy of the data CNN selected to reference -- as well as the data CNN ignored. If you read it, you will learn that the issue of whether or not to require seat belts on large school buses is a topic that has been thoroughly studied and debated for many years. You will also learn that we believe that decisions concerning the safety of students traveling to and from school must be based on the best, most comprehensive data available -- not on biased, inaccurate or incomplete data and especially not on unscientific, emotional appeals. We read with interest, your personal message on the CNN web site and find it interesting that you note that ". . . consumers could always count on one consistent fact -- that the news they found on CNN, whatever the form, was always accurate and unbiased." We wonder if you still stand by that claim. In fact, we invite you to stand by it. NSTA, NASDPTS and NAPT are very serious about our responsibility to children and take pride in our commitment to student transportation safety. If you consider the safety of our nation’s children to be as important as we do, then perhaps you or a member of your staff will call, write, fax or e-mail us in response to the letter we originally sent you on February 17, 1998, wherein we encourage you to contact us to discuss our concerns. Again, we hope to hear from you soon. Sincerely,
Karen
E. Finkel, Executive Director
Charles
L. Gauthier, Executive Director
Michael
J. Martin, Executive Director |
DISCUSSION PAPER REGARDING ISSUES INCLUDED IN:
CNN IMPACT - A Special Report
"Danger: School Buses"
The Cable News Network (CNN) recently aired a television special entitled, "Danger: School Buses" (CNN IMPACT, 1/18-19/98; re-broadcast with editorial and informational updates 3/15-16/98). The show, and a Fact Sheet advertised during the show, both reported a shocking increase -- 94% - in the number of injuries to students riding in school buses over a 12-year time frame (1982 to 1994). The show also inferred that the reported increase in injuries could be directly attributable to the fact that the vast majority of school buses in America are not equipped with passenger seat belts. It is important to realize that the discussion about "seat belts" on school buses means lap belts only, not the 3-point lap/shoulder belts found in passenger cars, light trucks, and vans.
In light of the serious and significant issues raised in the CNN report, the National School Transportation Association (NSTA), the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services (NASDPTS) and the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) -- the three major, national organizations representing the professional pupil transportation industry -- have joined to present an objective discussion of the data and analyses used by CNN to reach the conclusions reported in the IMPACT segment.
At the outset, it is important to note that the information reported by CNN was derived, in large part, from data collected and reported by the National Safety Council (NSC), a not-for-profit, non-governmental, international public service organization dedicated to improving the safety, health and environmental well-being of all people. NSC collects and disseminates information on a variety of topics -- including school bus transportation -- via an annual survey of government and private interests. Respondents participate in the survey on a voluntary basis. There are usually about 35 states that respond to the school transportation section of the annual NSC survey.
Although the NSC survey is a commendable effort to collect and report data, it has several serious deficiencies.
First, there are no standardized definitions or reporting procedures. For example, survey respondents are asked to report school bus injuries that "curtail a person’s normal activities beyond the day of an accident". Unfortunately, this is not a consistent definition used to gather injury data in the field. As a consequence, there is significant state-to-state variation between reported "injuries" -- one state may be reporting only serious injuries while another may be reporting scrapes, bruises and minor cuts. Statistical analysis of the NSC data contains compelling evidence that there are dramatic inconsistencies among the reported data. In order to make any statistical statements about the number of injuries or fatalities that occur in motor vehicle crashes, the actual numbers of injuries or fatalities must be "normalized," or compared on an equal basis. The motor vehicle safety community calculates the number of injuries or fatalities that occur on a "per vehicle mile traveled" basis in order to measure the "exposure" to the risk of an injury or fatality, or to identify trends in injuries or fatalities. When using the NSC data to calculate "injuries per vehicle mile traveled" for each state, variations greater than 100% and 200% are common between states with similar rural/urban densities. This would suggest that students riding in school buses in one state have a greater risk of being injured in an accident than students riding in school buses in another state are. Since there is no logical reason why there would be such a significant difference in risks among essentially identical states, the only rational explanation would be that there are inconsistencies in the data provided by the states to NSC. As a consequence, it is impossible to use the NSC data to accurately calculate trends in school bus injuries.
Second, scientists and statisticians alike agree that increases in injuries -- whether in cars, vans, trucks or buses -- can be directly attributed to increases in motor vehicle crashes. To a lesser extent, increases in injuries are also related to the average occupancy of motor vehicles. Finally, logic provides another basic correlation between fatalities and injuries in motor vehicle crashes -- if injuries increased significantly, there would be an expected increase in fatalities. These predicate assumptions are well accepted in the motor vehicle safety community.
As noted in the CNN IMPACT Fact Sheet, NSC data reports no significant change in the number of crashes on a year-to-year basis nor does it show a significant change in the number of students riding school buses. Moreover, the NSC data shows no significant increases in the number of school bus fatalities from year to year. In fact, the data indicates that school bus crashes, school bus occupancies, and school bus occupant fatalities have remained relatively constant during the 12-year period cited and analyzed by CNN.
While issues concerning the quality and consistency of the data which formed the basis for CNN’s report are extremely important in assessing trends in school transportation safety, perhaps the most significant shortcoming of the National Safety Council data is its complete lack of information on the severity of the injuries. Information that will reveal whether students on school buses are being injured in such a fashion that the installation of seat belts would be an effective countermeasure is a critical component of the public policy debate. For example, if the overwhelming majority of injuries were minor in nature, then the installation of seat belts would most likely have little or no impact on those types of injuries. The lack of this information is a fatal flaw that makes the NSC data unreliable in public discussion.
We understand that CNN reporters discussed the NSC data with NSC representatives prior to CNN’s report. We also understand that NSC representatives informed CNN that it could not rely on the NSC survey data to draw the conclusions that were reported in the IMPACT segment. It was disappointing that CNN chose to ignore this important advice from the organization that published the data.
What is more troubling, however, is that the CNN special made reference -- both direct and indirect -- to a number of specific school bus crashes that gave the clear impression that seat belts would have made a positive difference in each particular crash. CNN did not, however, discuss the 43 serious school bus crashes that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated to evaluate the effect that seat belts may have had in those crashes. "Crashworthiness of Large Post-Standard School Buses", Report # NTSB/SS Ð 87/01, March 1987. This report is available from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA, accession # PB87-917002.
NTSB evaluated a variety of real world crashes including frontal and side impacts as well as several rollover crashes. A team of professional accident investigators and biomechanical engineers reconstructed each crash, evaluated the motion of the occupants, and identified the cause(s) of the injuries/fatalities. For each crash, NTSB offered an evaluation of whether the use of seat belts would have made a difference in the injuries to the school bus occupants. Their conclusions were revealing:
From a public policy perspective, the NTSB’s conclusions are extremely important.
These real-world data unequivocally show that while seat belts may offer a safety benefit in some instances, in most crashes, the installation and use of seat belts would not have changed the injury outcome. Equally important is the fact that NTSB reported that in a significant number of crashes the use of seat belts would have contributed to a higher number and more severe injuries.
One final note that CNN also failed to mention in the IMPACT segment . . . a study conducted by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) showed that only 5 percent of all school bus injuries are of a serious nature. "Improving School Bus Safety", Special Report #222, May 1989. This report is available from the Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC. It is important to note that while the NAS study noted that seat belts are "not inherently harmful" on school buses, the committee concluded that there was no basis to require seat belts on large school buses. This is particularly significant since several of the committee members were public advocates for seat belts on school buses.
In our view, public policy, whether in the form of laws, standards, or regulations, must be based on data and science, not emotion and supposition. We encourage anyone interested in the issue of seat belts on school buses to investigate and consider the true facts.
