School bus accidents  I recently asked a school "transportation" person from the local school district what was being done to encourage children to walk or bike to school. Well, apparently "transportation" means school buses and almost nothing else. The first words from the person's mouth were "it's 8 times more safe to ride a school bus than to walk". She was quoting from an industry sponsored Web site, School Bus Information Council. She went on to say that "we bus as many kids as possible", since she feels it's the safest way for them to travel.

I guess she hasn't heard about the high levels of deisel fumes inhaled by school kids. Based on a study done for the Natural Resources Defense Council, "The study found that excess exhaust levels on school buses were 23 to 46 times higher than levels considered to be a significant cancer risk according to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and federal guidelines."

One UCLA study measured pollutants inside school buses in California: "Average concentrations of key pollutants were significantly higher aboard the school buses than at bus stops or the school loading/unloading zone, and children spent much more time aboard the buses than at the other two microenvironments."

According to the EPA Web site Clean School Bus USA, "Children are vulnerable to the effects of diesel emissions which can cause respiratory disease and exacerbate long-term conditions such as asthma" and "EPA has determined that diesel exhaust is a likely human carcinogen. Diesel exhaust can also contribute to other acute and chronic health effects".
posted by Bruce Wright at 10:42 PM #