School Bus Safety in Australia
Keywords: Education
ARSRPE
Submission Date: 2000
Abstract
In 1999 ARRB Transport Research was commissioned by Austroads to undertake a review current practice and research in relation to school bus safety, and to identify new or proven safety measures that may be used as part of a National approach to school bus safety. The research was split into a number of components, with the key objective of developing a set of school bus safety recommendations that may be incorporated into a National School Bus Strategy.
In November 1999 the progress and findings of two research components of the project were presented at the Road Safety Research, Policing and Education Conference in Canberra. This presentation reported on the examination of the national crash data involving school buses to determine the magnitude and characteristics of the problem; and on the review of relevant literature to determine current knowledge related to school bus safety, injury risks and effective countermeasures. The three remaining tasks have now been completed. These included:
? Reviewing current accident data collection practices and procedures in Australia.
? Reviewing current school bus safety programs and countermeasures implemented across jurisdictions.
? Consulting with community interest groups and key stakeholders to obtain community views on school bus safety.
The current paper aims to provide a summary of findings of these three remaining components and provide some guidance as to the intended application of these findings.