Bad Grades for School Buses

Seats on school buses.

School buses, diesel emissions, and respiratory health.

School buses contribute disproportionately to ambient air quality, pollute near schools and residential areas, and their emissions collect within passenger cabins. This paper examines the impact of school bus emissions reductions programs on health outcomes. A key contribution relative to the broader literature is that we examine localized pollution reduction programs at a fine level of aggrega...

Should School Buses Have Seat Belts?

1. I NI Of the 42,000 people killed in traffic accidents, only 6 are children on school buses. 2. I NI School buses are safe enough already. 3. I NI High-backed seats on school buses help to “package children like eggs.” 4. I NI Lap and shoulder belts reduce injuries by 45 percent. 5. I NI Padded seats are all that is needed to protect students from harm. 6. I NI Buses are seven times safer tha...

School well-being in Grades 4-12.

The World Health Organization has encouraged a whole-school approach when trying to promote mental health and well-being in schools. The Internet-based School Well-being Profile aims to be a holistic well-being evaluation tool for schools. Well-being is divided into four categories: 'school conditions', 'social relationships', 'means for self-fulfillment' and 'health status'. The questionnaires...

Studies of self-pollution in diesel school buses: methodological issues.

Considerable interest has focused on levels of exhaust emissions in the cabins of diesel-powered school buses and their possible adverse health effects. Significantly different policy and engineering issues would be raised if compelling evidence found that inc-cabin contamination was due to self-pollution from bus emissions, rather than ambient pollution, neighboring vehicles, and/or re-entrain...