April 15, 2002

Mr. Pete Baxter
Director
Indiana Department of Education
229 State House
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2798

Dear Mr. Baxter:

At this time of the year, many school districts are reviewing their transportation polices for the upcoming 2002-2003 school year. With this in mind, I am writing you to emphasize the importance of transporting students to and from school and school-related activities in vehicles that meet the school bus safety standards established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency of the US Department of Transportation.

As you know, pursuant to Federal law, NHTSA has issued safety standards applicable to all new motor vehicles. In 1974, Congress directed NHTSA to require school buses to meet more stringent safety standards than the standards for passenger vans and other buses. School buses are required to have flashing lights and stop arms for control of traffic near and around the bus each time it stops to load and unload passengers. School buses also provide enhanced emergency exits, greater rollover protection, increased body joint strength, stronger seating crash protection, cross-view mirrors, and greater crash protection to the fuel tank and fuel system.

Federal law prohibits dealers from selling or reassign new vehicles that are not certified as meeting all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards. Dealers selling or leasing a new bus” (defined as any vehicle, including a van, that has a capacity of 11 persons or more, including the driver) to transport students to or from school and school-related events must sell a bus that is certified as meeting all of NHTSA’s school bus safety standards. A dealer or lessor is prohibited from selling or leasing a new “bus” to transport students if the vehicle is not a “school bus.”

School buses that comply with NHTSA’s school bus safety standards are the safest form of pupil transportation. A school’s purchase or use of 10-15 passenger vans or non-school buses could result in school children being transported in vehicles that do not provide an appropriate level of safety.

While most States require the use of school buses to transport children to and from school and school-related events, some States do not. We urge you to take steps to ensure that all school children in your State are carried on school buses that are certified by their manufacturers as meeting NHTSA’s school bus standards.

Our position that school buses are the safest form of transportation for school children is reflected in a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendation issued after NTSB investigated four crashes in 1998 and 1999, in which nine people were killed (including eight children) and 36 people injured when riding in “nonconforming buses.” In a special report (for a complete copy, see www.ntsb.gov/publictn/1999/sir9902.pdf, the NTSB issued the following Safety Recommendation to the 50 States and the District of Columbia:

Require that all vehicles carrying more than 10 passengers (buses) and transporting children to and from school and school related activities, including but not limited to Head Start programs and day care centers, meet the school bus structural standards or the equivalent as set forth in 49 Code of Federal Regulations Part 571. Enact regulatory measures to enforce compliance with the revised statutes.

For your information, I am enclosing a February 2002 fact sheet posing frequently asked questions about school buses, and our answers to those questions along with a handout on why school buses are the safest choice for school transportation. These can be reproduced and distributed through newsletters or other mailings or posted on websites. If you have any additional questions regarding these issues, please call Dorothy Nakama, Aftomey-Advisor in NHTSA’s Office of the Chief Counsel at 202-366-2992.

Sincerely yours,
Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D.
Enclosures