Child Care :: U.S. school bus-related injuries

Previous reports have greatly underestimated the number of children injured on school buses. The study, “School Bus-Related Injuries Among Children and Teenagers in the United States, 2001-2003,” is the first to analyze non-fatal school bus injuries using a national sample. It found more than 51,000 children – or 17,000 annually – through age 19 were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments during the 3-year period.

Children 10 to 14 years of age were injured most often, with girls accounting for just over half of the injuries. Most injuries were caused by motor vehicle crashes and accidents that occurred while boarding the bus. The researchers noted that the actual number of injuries could be even higher as many school bus-related injuries are not treated at the hospital but by a child’s caregivers, a private physician’s office, a non-emergency department health care facility, or simply not treated at all.


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