School Bus Safety | Traffic Safety Marketing

Millions of children across the nation ride on a school bus every day – that’s why school bus safety is important in every community. Use this material to educate the public about bus stop safety, including illegal school bus passing.

Many assets are available in English and Spanish. Share this information with partner organizations to help spread the message across communities.

A reminder, National School Bus Safety Week is October 20-24 — an opportunity to increase safety messaging.

Facts

School bus facts, stats and reports from NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis

Get More Facts & Reports

From 2014 to 2023, there were 971 fatal school-bus-related crashes, and 1,079 people of all ages were killed in those crashes — an average of 108 fatalities per year.
From 2014 to 2023, there were 209 school-age children who died in school-bus-related traffic crashes; 38 were occupants of school buses, 83 were occupants of other vehicles, 79 were pedestrians, 6 were bicyclists, and 3 were an “other” nonoccupant.
From 2014 to 2023, there were 1.5 times more fatalities among pedestrians (171) than occupants of school buses (113) in school bus-related crashes.
From 2014 to 2023, there were 113 occupants killed in school buses; 48 were drivers, and 65 were passengers. Most (70%) of the people killed in school-bus-related crashes were occupants of other vehicles involved in the crashes.
School buses are statistically the safest way to transport school children. Unfortunately, dangers still arise: From 2000-2023, there were 61 fatalities in crashes that involved a driver illegally passing a stopped school bus, an average of 2.5 fatalities a year. Almost half of those fatalities (26) were pedestrians who were 18 years old or younger.

For facts translated in Spanish, visit NHTSA.gov/Espanol.

National School Bus Safety Week

October 20-24, 2025 is National School Bus Safety Week and you'll see increased communication related to school bus safety. You can use any of the materials available on this page to increase your school bus safety messaging.

In addition, sample news releases can be downloaded and used during National School Bus Safety Week.

Social Media

Sample social media posts are available for you to use on your various social media platforms, including Facebook, X and Instagram.

This social media playbook contains sample social media content. Download this guide for instructions on posting the below playbook graphics to Facebook, X and Instagram. The content is designed for easy posting and seamless integration into your current social media strategy.

Social Media Playbook

Additional sample social media posts are also available for download.

Talking Points

We've prepared talking points related to school bus safety. Some are for drivers, and others are for parents and students. After downloading, we encourage you to add local stats and facts to the document.