Here's how school buses are designed to keep kids safe

After a crash in Westmoreland County killed a school van driver on Friday and another crash in Butler County injured eight students and that driver on Thursday, some parents are rattled. But experts say school buses are the most regulated and some of the safest vehicles on the road. 

"The last 24 hours here in western Pennsylvania's been tough," said D.J. Frye, who owns Fyre Transportation in Beaver County. "We've had two accidents, right?" 

Frye, who is also part of the Pennsylvania School Bus Association, says there are some things he wants parents to know and there are basic stats worth knowing.

"Even though it's been a bad 24 hours, it will always and it has always been the safest way," he said. 

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, from 2013 to 2022, 111 occupants have been killed in school transportation vehicles. Fifty were drivers and 61 were students.

As for drivers, by state regulation, all of them must have a regular physical every 13 months. They also must have a special commercial driver's license and special training. Not just anyone can drive a school bus. 

The buses are also designed with safety in mind. 

"They have a construction called compartmentalization construction, which is similar to an egg in an egg carton. So that student at time of impact will kind of jar around in that padded area. That bus is also constructed much heavier and higher off the ground than a light truck and smaller vehicles," said Fyre. 

The design inside buses is no mistake. Between seat placement, height, padding for students and drivers, it's all very specific to provide minimum injury in any type of accident.

"I'm willing to bet if you saw that, the cabin camera to that accident, you would see exactly how that construction, the compartmentalization, worked in that accident, where the students probably just bounced around in that padded area," Frye said.