Recently, our firm posted a news story in regards to two yellow bus accidents occurring on Long Island within a single morning. Unfortunately, yellow bus accidents are not a rarity. Over the past several years, there have been numerous cases reported in which school buses have crashed or rolled over, resulting in serious injuries and even passenger fatalities. Also frightening, is the fact that federal law does not require seat belts on board of buses. It’s left up to the states to decide, and thus far, only several states have mandated that seat belts are used. Combine this with the fact that about 25 million students are taken to and from school on yellow buses each year, and you will probably be left with some frightening scenarios in your head.
Fortunately, in the state of New York, seat belts ARE required on school buses. But, aside from a federal seat belt mandate, what else can be done to ensure the safety of students? Some have suggested that bus operators should have to face tougher certification exams. Others have called for a federal law that requires background checks on bus drivers. Several parents have even called for parent-driver meetings, in which the parents of the students would get a chance to meet and evaluate the children’s bus driver. Regardless of which plan is followed, I think its needless to say that changes have to be made. In 2006, one study suggested that 17,000 children are hospitalized each year as a result of some type of school bus related injury.
School bus safety is a nationwide problem that is quite evidently effecting students within our own local neighborhoods as well. If you, or your children have sustained a school bus related injury, please contact our Long Island personal injury attorneys. Our lawyers can help you and your family to recover compensation for any injuries that may have been sustained.
Goldstein and Bashner
