The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration require all new school buses to be equipped with vehicle-integrated alcohol detection systems.
[Above photo via NTSB]
The independent federal investigation agency referenced a school bus rollover in March 2024 in West Virginia due to the driver’s alcohol impairment – a crash that seriously injured three students and NTSB said underscored not only the need for alcohol detection systems but for passenger lap/shoulder belts on school buses as well.
In a statement, the NTSB said its investigation found that alcohol impairment among school bus drivers occurs with concerning frequency. A Stateline study found that, from 2015 through 2019, 118 school bus drivers nationwide were cited or arrested for operating a bus while impaired by alcohol, drugs, or a combination of both.
NTSB also noted that active and passive alcohol detection technologies already exist that can prevent a vehicle from operating if driver alcohol impairment is detected.
[Editor’s note: The full report is available on the NTSB’s website by clicking here.]
The agency added that its investigations have shown passenger lap/shoulder belts on school buses provide increased protection in side impact and rollover crashes like the Millstone, WV, crash and a similar crash in Dale, TX, which the NTSB examined as part of this investigation.
In these types of crashes, the compartmentalized seating design of large school buses alone may not prevent injuries, the agency noted, because unbelted children can be thrown from their seating area, strike other occupants or hard surfaces, or be partially or fully ejected from the bus.
In both the West Virginia and Texas school bus crashes, NTSB said the unbelted students were thrown about the interior of the bus – meaning seatbelts on school buses would reduce the risk of such injuries and ejections.
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