title: School bus crash rates on routine and nonroutine routes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although prior research has established that school buses are a safe form of transportation, crashes can produce catastrophic consequences. School buses have 2 types of routes: predictable, routine routes that take children to and from school and less predictable, nonroutine routes for school events. No studies have examined school bus crash incidence and characteristics by these route types.
  
  
  METHODS
  School bus crashes were identified from the Iowa Department of Transportation Crash Database from mid-2005 through mid-2010. Crash reports did not identify whether the bus was on a routine or nonroutine route, so a protocol to assign these based on day and time was developed. Bus mileage was provided by the Iowa Department of Education.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The school bus crash rate was 2.1 times higher on nonroutine routes than on routine routes (95% CI = 1.8-2.3). Most crashes involved an improper action by the driver of another vehicle. In crashes attributed to improper actions of school buses, failure to yield the right-of-way and disregarding traffic signs were more common on routine routes, while losing control, speeding, reckless, or aggressive driving were more common on nonroutine routes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  School bus crashes are more likely to occur on nonroutine routes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, E11 Seashore Hall, Iowa City, IA 52245-1407. elizabeth-oneal@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: O'Neal
authors.forename: Marizen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramirez
authors.forename: Cara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hamann
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stahlhut
authors.forename: Corinne
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peek-Asa
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006801:Humans; D007484:Iowa / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012574:Schools; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: child and adolescent health; injury prevention; public health; school bus crashes