What is a Head Start bus? The national Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) U.S. Department of Transportation, defines a bus as a motor vehicle designed to carry more than 10 persons, and a Head Start bus as that is sold or introduced into interstate commerce "for purposes that include carrying students to and from school or related events." This definition does not include buses operated as common carriers in urban transportation.
What is a school related event? A school related event is any activity sponsored by a school, whether on or off the school grounds, including transportation between home and school, sports events, band concerts, field trips, and competitions such as debate or chess tournaments.
Do the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSSs) apply to you? The FMVSSs apply to motor vehicle manufacturers and any person selling or offering for sale or lease a new motor vehicle. It is a violation of Federal law for any person knowingly to sell or lease a new vehicle for use as a school bus that does not comply with all FMVSSs applicable to school buses. The law provides substantial penalties for violation of the FMVSSs, including civil fines.
Can the states change Federal requirements? No, a state may not prescribe a standard for new vehicles covering the same aspect of performance as a Federal standard unless the State standard is identical to the Federal standard. However, a State may impose more stringent standards than Federal standards for vehicles obtained for the State's own use.
Isn't a van safer than a Head Start bus since the van has seat belts and school buses do not? No. In fact comparable sized small school buses are required to have seat belts because they weigh less than 10,000 pounds. School buses, as indicated above, have markedly superior per road mile safety records than all other vehicles, regardless of the seat belt issue. In fact, school buses are designed with a "compartmentalization" concept, which keeps children within and near their seats by placing the seats forward to them very close and with significant interior padding and other safety features.
School buses have many safety features - emergency exits, heavily padded seats and reinforced sidewalls and roof. School buses are the safest form of motorized transportation. The National Highway traffic Safety Administration calls school buses the single safest form of transportation that exists. "It's our recommendation that school children only be transported in these vehicles".
Aren't Head Start buses significantly more expensive than vans? The initial cost of a 15 seat school bus is approximately $3,000 to $5,000 greater than a comparable sized van. However, the school bus has a significantly longer road life and is less expensive to maintain. Recent calculations have determined that the per road mile cost of a 15 seat school bus is actually cheaper than a comparable sized van. Most have discovered that the cost of leasing a school bus is equal to or less costly than existing van leases. Your program cannot afford not to comply - both for the safety of your students and your liability exposure.
