School bus accidents are something everyone wants to avoid. After all, these buses carry the most precious cargo of any vehicle in New York. Because of the importance of protecting the passengers inside, school bus designs have specific safety features that make them one of the most secure and safest vehicles on the road.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration explains the design of a school bus is precise. Every detail about a massive vehicle is well-thought-out and serves a specific purpose for the overall safety of the vehicle. There are three particular aspects worth noting that make buses incredibly safe vehicles.
- High visibility
It is pretty difficult to miss a school bus coming down the road due to its size and color. It also has flashing lights and a stop sign arm that comes out when it stops. All these details are to ensure other drivers see the bus and can easily notice the bus regardless of weather conditions.
- High crush standards
A bus also has a design that makes it solid and difficult to crush, with rollover protection built into the frame. It is also more stable than other vehicles, making it tough to upend in the first place. It acts like a metal cage to protect riders in a way and to an extent that other vehicles do not.
- Protective seats
There are always people who ask why school buses do not have seat belts. After all, the general message is always to wear your seat belt in a vehicle. Yet, here is a vehicle that carries children every day and does not even offer this safety device. There is an excellent reason for this, and it goes back to the design of the bus, the bus seats, to be exact. The seats have energy-absorbing backs and sit close together to protect the rider, which is much better than a seat belt.
When all the safety features of a bus combine, it makes for an incredibly safe vehicle. This design is something that every parent with a child who rides the school bus can appreciate.
