When’s the last time you heard about an incident with a school bus? Shockingly, they happen a lot more than you might think. In 2024 alone, school bus related crashes led to 110 deaths nationwide. In 2023, there were 128 deaths.
In 2026, there have been a spate of stories that are horrible to think about.
In Howard County, Maryland, just outside of Baltimore, a school bus carrying middle school students traveled about 21 miles off route before students themselves had to realize that something was wrong and alert the police.
The driver appeared disoriented and may have been experiencing a medical emergency. Pretty scary for a medical school student.
Then in Beaumont, Texas, east of Houston, a mother could not find her five year old autistic nonverbal daughter after the girl spent nearly three hours riding a school bus.
The problem? The district had changed routes because of a staffing issue. And her mother says that she couldn’t get a clear answer about where her daughter was for hours.
In Carroll County, Tennessee, two 13 year old students died and more than 20 other passengers suffered injuries when a school bus hit a dump truck, an SUV, and then veered into an encampment.
And in Cincinnati, Ohio, a seven year old girl with special needs died after becoming unresponsive on a school bus. According to the reports, neither the driver nor her aide called 911. The seven year old was delivered home unresponsive.
We trust school buses to get our kids from the safety of our homes to school every day. So why are we seeing so many serious injuries and incidents? Is this simply a string of unrelated tragedies? Are staffing shortages the problem here? Training gaps? Weak safety protocols?
We’re going to be following these stories. Have you seen incidents like this in your community? Is this something that is keeping you awake at night?
Because these stories are horrific; we’re talking about every parent’s nightmare.
