Senate Resolution 179 Printer's Number 1265

PENNSYLVANIA, October 21 - without stopping; and

WHEREAS, PennDOT provides helpful tips to motorists, parents

and students to help ensure school bus safety; and

WHEREAS, According to the most updated statistics provided by

the Pennsylvania School Bus Association (PSBA), each year

approximately 450,000 school buses travel an estimated 4.3

billion miles transporting roughly 23.5 million students to and

from school and school-related activities; and

WHEREAS, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

(NHTSA) reported that from 2014 to 2023, there were 971 fatal

school-transportation-related crashes, resulting in 1,079

fatalities, averaging 108 deaths annually; and

WHEREAS, These figures reflect a slight decrease compared to

the 2013-2022 reporting period, when the NHTSA recorded 1,009

such crashes among 326,149 total nationwide fatal crashes; and

WHEREAS, Average fatalities in school-transportation-related

crashes remained at 108 annually for 2014-2023, compared to 113

annually during 2011-2020; and

WHEREAS, Of the fatalities from 2014-2023, 10% were occupants

of school transportation vehicles (113 fatalities), 20% were

nonoccupants such as pedestrians and bicyclists (211 fatalities,

including 171 pedestrians), and 70% were occupants of other

vehicles (755 fatalities); and

WHEREAS, The report stated that 46% of school-transportation-

related fatal crashes occurred in rural areas, with the

remainder in urban settings; and

WHEREAS, Studies affirm that school buses represent the

safest way for children to travel to and from school-related

activities; and

WHEREAS, The outstanding safety record of school buses is due

20250SR0179PN1265 - 2 -

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30