The Australian Transport Council (ATC) has requested Austroads: (1) to review current practice and research in relation to school bus safety; and (2) to identify new or proven safety measures that may be used as part of a national approach to school bus safety. Notwithstanding reductions achieved, across the country about 9 children are seriously injured each month. To ensure that school bus safety is recognised as a road safety priority nationally, this report proposes a draft National School Bus Safety Action Plan to complement the National Road Safety Strategy 2000 currently being drafted. The School Bus Safety Action Plan is intended as a guide to states and territories. It provides a set of short to long term initiatives expected to improve school bus safety. Components of the School Bus Safety Action Plan comprise a range of current and new "best practice" initiatives that focus on: (1) improving the behaviours of children, parents, teachers, child carers, bus drivers and operators, and the general community; (2) improvements to school buses and their design; (3) improvements to the road and its environment. To refine and facilitate the implementation of the School Bus Safety Action Plan, and to monitor the effectiveness of the program and identify future crash trends, the review also recommended the establishment of a School Bus Safety Advisory Group. The review further recommended an expansion of the national reporting system pertaining to school bus crashes. (Author/publisher) For the summary report see C 22116 (ITRD E204492).
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