Norfolk, Va. - Federal officials are working to convince parents that school buses are the safest mode of transportation for kids.
Each year, more than 800 children die in crashes during school commuting hours. Of those, only 20 of them were bus riders. And most of those were children running to or from school buses. Just five children, or less than one half of 1%, died while riding the bus.
School buses have the lowest injury and fatality rates of all motor vehicles, according to the NTSB.
Even so, some parents like Beth Harrison, say school buses are not the best choice for their families.
"There are a lot of reasons I don't want my children on the bus. It's mainly because they are young and they will be on the bus with a lot of older kids. But I'm glad to hear the bus is the safest," she says.
Molly Loch works the the Virginia Beach school where her daughter will attend. She will take her to school. And her son, a teenager, will drive himself.
Federal officials say that's the riskiest way to get to school. Teenagers who drive themselves to class are eight times more likely to die in crashes than when parents drive them.
"It does make me very nervous, him driving back-and-forth there," she says. "But we have to learn. Everybody has to learn somehow."
So while parents sometimes hold their breath as their kids roll, jump and scoot through summer break, this fall they can send them to the bus stop knowing that this is the one of the safest places they can be.
