The 2010-2011 Ventura County Grand Jury is pleased to announce the public release of a report entitled:

School Bus Safety

SUMMARY
Following a fatal school bus accident in Missouri, the 2010-2011 Ventura County Grand Jury (Grand Jury) began an investigation into school bus safety within Ventura County (County). The Grand Jury also considered the issue of seat belts on school buses.

School bus safety is a serious issue. A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revealed that, during the eleven-year period from 1998 through 2008, an average of 19 school-age children died in school transportation-related traffic crashes each year. The majority of people killed in school transportation-related crashes are not school-age bus riders, but are occupants of other vehicles involved or pedestrians.

The Grand Jury reviewed school bus-related information provided by all 21 school districts (Districts) within the County, including the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE). The information provided to the Grand Jury by the Districts appears to indicate that school bus travel in the County is safe. The Grand Jury estimated that the number of daily student bus riders in the County for the 2009-2010 school year was 16,167. The Grand Jury found that there were a total of 41 school bus-related accidents in that school year, resulting in four injuries to student bus riders. However, the Grand Jury found that there is a lack of comparable, consistent data between Districts which makes objective measure of school bus safety difficult. The Grand Jury searched the websites of all 21 Districts and a representative sample of individual school websites and was unable to find school bus safety statistics. The Grand Jury was unable to identify any agency with the responsibility for collecting and reporting County school bus safety information at the County level.

The Grand Jury recommends that the VCOE assumes responsibility for the collection and reporting of school bus safety information within the County and develop a standard form for the collection of such information from the Districts. The Grand Jury recommends that the Districts use this standard form to collect school bus safety information, report this information to the VCOE, and post it on District websites. The Grand Jury recommends that the VCOE reports District school bus safety information on its website for the County as a whole.

After a study of the issues surrounding seat belts on school buses, the Grand Jury found that it is unclear whether seat belts on school buses significantly increase school bus safety.

Go to the Grand Jury website to review the entire report http://grandjury.countyofventura.org