Recently, sixteen Mississippi students and the bus driver were hurt in a crash which occurred when their bus flipped over. The accident was terrifying for the students who were on the bus, and for their parents, who waited nervously for word that their children were safe. This recent school bus accident calls into question the safety of something that is an essential component of many families’ weekdays – the bus ride to and from school.

Children all over Mississippi ride buses to school each weekday morning, and they ride them back home again in the afternoon. The parents of children who ride buses to and from school expect the bus drivers to get their children to school and back safely on a daily basis. Some children do not ride buses to school, but many families are not able to make rides to or from school in a parent’s car happen twice a day, five days a week. Many parents work on weekdays, making transportation on school buses the only real option for getting their kids to school on time each morning.

We realize that the recent school bus accident in Mississippi has got parents across the state wondering about the true safety of school buses. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration firmly believes that school buses are, in fact, the safest way for children to get to and from school. Statistics support the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s assertion, showing that riding to school on the school bus is seven times safer than riding to school in a passenger vehicle.

If you rode a school bus to school, you may remember that there were not any seat belts on the bus. In most places, there are still no seat belts on school buses. School buses are designed much differently than passenger vehicles are, so they keep passengers safe in a much different way. The padded, high backed seats in school buses serve to divide them into compartments. This compartmentalization reduces the amount of movement that each individual passenger experiences during a collision. Also, school buses are large, so when there is a crash, the force of the impact is dispersed across a large area.  When school bus accidents do happen, injuries are likely to be minor, but that does not decrease the scariness of the experience for the children on board the bus or their parents.

Barrett Law PLLC:  Representing School Bus Accident Victims across the State of Mississippi

School bus accidents can cause a variety of injuries.  If you or your child have been injured in a school bus accident in Mississippi, the Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC can help.  We help accident victims pursue compensation for injuries, like medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.  Call the compassionate and experienced Mississippi Personal Injury Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (800) 707-9577 to schedule your free consultation.