The issue whether school buses are safe is no doubt a divisive one. So WAVE 3 News further investigated this and got JCPS’ side of the story. JCPS Communication Specialist, Ben Jackey admitted to receiving questions about the safety of their buses. He believed that buses are among the safest vehicles in road. JCPS also shared their crash data for the last four years which showed that 70,000 students ride in one of their 961 buses every school day. In 2012, 249 of those buses were involved in a collision, a rate that has been steady over the last four years. Jackey added that 38,000 accidents were reported in Jefferson County. However, a lot more were not documented. They accounted for around 250 accidents and only around 70 was, according to him, their fault.
Related: School Buses Use Technology To Increase Student Safety
So how does JCPS fares now when it comes to accident rates? WAVE 3 cited another school system with around the same number of buses as JCPS. That school was Charlotte-Mecklenberg County Schools. The Charlotte-Mecklenberg County Schools in North Carolina traveled around 19 million miles in 2012 and was involved in 351 crashes. That’s approximately one crash per 54,000 miles driven versus the one crash in 72,000 miles that JCPS was involved in. WAVE 3 also stated, in their report on JCPS accidents, that the majority of accidents occurred at low speeds and injuries were rare.
Related: Tips To Keep Kids Safe Around Kentucky School Zones
Kentucky parents have roles to play too
As a Kentucky Accident Attorney and parent myself, I understand how uneasy it is to hear about a school bus accident. However, bus drivers aren’t the only ones responsible for our child’s safety when they are on the roads. Parental involvement is also crucial. We may have varying opinion whether JCPS buses are safe, but at the end of the day, we all want out children to be safe going to and from school. Let’s teach our kids basic safety precautions. That way, they will be able to protect themselves even when we are not physically there to look after them. It also helps to remind them about how important it is to behave and listen to the driver. This will help the driver stay focused and hopefully avoid any accidents.