According to statistics, approximately 25 million children, all across the United States, travel on school buses everyday. There are more than 400,000 school buses on the roads of America every school day, accounting for a staggering number of more than 8 billion school bus trips to and from school each year.

A school bus has been declared as the safest means of travel in the US, much more so than private cars and other vehicles. Although it is very heartening to know this, it is unfortunate that school buses are not 100% safe, and do get involved in school bus accidents.

Any kind of traffic accident has to be tragic, but in the case of a school bus accident, the tragedy can be so much worse because children are invariably going to be involved in the accident. A school bus is synonymous with children, and so any mention of a school bus accident is sure to catch the attention of millions of people.

Over the years, a leading debate in school bus accidents has been that of a lack of seat belts in school buses. There have been many instances of school bus accidents, where a child has been thrown from the bus due to the impact, and this has caused the death of the child. Thus, the question is raised as to why school buses are not equipped with seat belts, which can save the lives of many innocent children, in case of a school bus accident.

But school authorities, bus drivers, and many other people are of the opinion, that seat belts in school buses, would not save as many lives as they would endanger. Statistics show that there are many more situations where children need to be extricated from school buses, than there are of children being thrown from the school buses. While, in the latter case, a seat belt may have proved effective, it could endanger the lives of many other children if they needed to be removed from the school buses in an emergency, and could not be extricated because of the hindrance caused by seat belts.

Thus, the debate is still on, with many parents asking for seat belts to be put on school buses, and many others not recommending their usage on school buses. As of July 2004, all new school buses that are being manufactured need to have certain types of restraint and safety systems for the children, but these do not apply to older school buses. While such restraint systems do in fact help in bus accidents or make the situation worse, still remains to be seen.

While such measures may be acceptable for other vehicles, these are definitely not enough when the lives of millions of school children are at stake.

Litigation

If your child has been in any kind of school bus accident, you need to consult with an accident lawyer to know about your options regarding bus accidents. If any injuries have been sustained, you may be entitled to receive damages, depending on the seriousness of such injuries. And if you have lost a child as a result of any school bus accident, you may have a criminal and civil case against the responsible parties.

Although no amount of money, regardless of how much, can be compensation enough for losing a child, unfortunately that is the only justice that can be available to you. A lawyer will be able to help you get compensation for your loss, and your lawsuit may even encourage the relevant authorities to try and make school bus travel safer than it already is, so as to minimize any further instances of school bus accidents.

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