School Bus Safety in the U.S.

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Zonar Infographic highlights which states have the safest and most accident-prone school bus fleets
Top 10 Dangerous Roads in the US for Truck Drivers Infographic

Seattle Wash. – May 9, 2018 – Zonar, the leader in smart fleet management technology, today released information showing the states with the highest and lowest rate of school bus accidents to help parents, school administrators, transportation officials and fleet managers identify where potential improvements can be made. Each year school buses travel roughly four billion total miles and transport more than 23 million students1. While school buses remain the safest mode of transportation for children going to school and returning home, recognizing the locations with the highest accident rates and taking action can help decrease or even prevent more incidents from happening.

The average probability rate of accidents in all school buses within a vehicle’s lifespan (roughly 15 years) is 9.5%, according to safety data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The states listed below have accident rates that are higher or lower relative to the average.

States with the Lowest School Bus Accident Rates
(Beginning with the lowest rates) 		States with the Highest School Bus Accident Rates
(Beginning with the highest rates)
1. Maryland
2. California
3. Vermont
4. Nebraska
5. Maine
6. Montana
7. North Dakota
8. Minnesota
9. Virginia
10. Alabama
 1. Utah
2. Michigan
3. Rhode Island
4. Texas
5. Idaho
6. Indiana
7. Wisconsin
8. Tennessee
9. New York
10. Florida

“It’s undeniable school bus drivers have an important job and play a key role in our children’s lives,” says H. Kevin Mest, senior vice president & general manager, Passenger Services at Zonar. “We want to ensure school districts and states are doing their best to equip drivers with the latest technology and resources that make it easier for them to keep their passengers – our kids – safe while on the road.”

Zonar creates technology solutions that collect and analyze data from a wide-variety of vehicles including trucks, school buses, transit vehicles and construction equipment. This information empowers drivers and fleet managers with the data and analysis needed to better navigate any route and safely manage passengers. Zonar technology is on 170,000 school buses nation-wide, helping school districts and student transportation contractors bolster and improve the safety of school bus passengers, providing parents peace-of-mind by ensuring they know where their children are while on the road. Most recently, Zonar partnered with Child Check-Mate to provide schools with a child safety alert system, ensuring no child is left on a vehicle accidentally.

See the full infographic School Bus Safety in the U.S.

1.Based on data from the National Association for Pupil Transportation

About Zonar

Founded in 2001, Zonar has pioneered smart fleet management solutions throughout vocational, pupil, mass transit and commercial trucking industries. Zonar helps fleets of all sizes maximize the use of their assets with solutions dedicated to improving compliance, efficiency, maintenance, ridership visibility, safety and tracking. Cloud-based services with open API’s drive Zonar’s smart fleet solutions by making it easy for fleet owners and managers to stay connected to their fleets and drivers and operators to dispatch. Headquartered in Seattle and majority-owned by technology company Continental, Zonar also has a Technology Development Center in downtown Seattle, a regional office in Cincinnati, and a distribution center outside of Atlanta. For more information about Zonar, go to www.zonarsystems.com