Two-times everyday during the school year, almost 6,000 Alberta school buses safely transport over 260,000 children to and from school. All told the school buses in Alberta travel more than 400,000 kilometers a day - that's about 10 times around the earth!

With that many buses travelling that many kilometers on a daily basis you might be tempted to think that school buses would be at a higher risk for being in a collision. Based on several studies and investigations, Transport Canada reports that school buses are the safest mode of road transportation for school-aged children.

As safe as they are, school buses are not immune to collisions. Unfortunately, the greatest incidence of collisions involving school buses result from other vehicles running into the back of the bus or striking children as they cross the road either heading for, or, exiting the bus.

School Buses and Seat Belts

Many parents wonder why school buses don’t have seat belts in them. This is a valid concern, but in fact, studies have found that lap belts in school buses may cause severe head and neck injuries in children during a collision. This issue is currently under review by Transport Canada and provincial and territorial vehicle safety representatives.

The industry is always looking for ways to make school bus travel safer, but as it stands, school bus travel is already one of the safest ways for your child to travel back and forth to school.

This chart lists the number of school buses involved in casualty (fatal and injury) collisions in Alberta between 2004 and 2008.

2008 - 59
2007 - 80
2006 - 72
2005 - 74
2004 - 72

TOTAL: 357 School Buses

Note: This information is by calendar year, not school year.

Last UpdatedAugust 10, 2009