Mecklenburg County leads the state in school bus crashes. How can they be avoided?
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools bus was involved in a head-on crash with a dump truck morning that left 17 injured Wednesday morning.
The bus, which was headed to South Mecklenburg High before being hit by multiple vehicles on Sharon Road, left one person with life-threatening injuries, another with serious injuries and 15 students with minor injuries, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The incident is the latest in a growing trend of school bus collisions reported in the Charlotte area.
Mecklenburg County has led North Carolina in the number of school bus crashes reported every year from 2004 to 2020, according to data from the N.C. Department of Transportation.
The latest NCDOT Traffic Crash Facts report notes that there were 70 school bus crashes in Mecklenburg County in 2020, resulting in 85 injuries and one death. In Wake County, home to the largest school district in the state, there were 36 crashes and seven injuries reported during the same year.
Here’s what drivers need to know to make school bus transportation safer.
Are kids safer traveling by school bus than a car?
According to the American School Bus Council, students are 70 times more likely to get to school safely if they take the bus instead of traveling by car.
Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also show that deaths on school transportation vehicles account for less than 1% of all traffic fatalities nationwide.
What drivers should know when sharing the road with school buses
First Sgt. Chris Knox, a public information officer with N.C. Highway Patrol, said distracted driving can often lead to school bus passing violations and collisions.
“If you’re not constantly monitoring what school buses are doing and preparing for them to make stops, or doing things like looking at your phone or just not being focused on the roadway, those are the times when you would probably commit a passing violation,” Knox said. “I don’t think people are egregiously looking to pass school buses, but I think most scenarios are based on people not watching for them.
“Some of the issues we run into are people just not being familiar with the law,” he added.
Knox also advised drivers to stop far enough back from a school bus so children can safely enter and exit the bus. He also encourages motorists to maintain a safe speed when near a school bus to allow time to stop when necessary.
Per North Carolina law, it is illegal for drivers to pass a school bus that is stopped to load or unload children, and those who fail to comply will face $500 fines.
Observer reporters Kallie Cox, Joe Marusak and Adam Bell contributed to this story.
