The School Bus Information Council applauds the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for again alerting the public about the danger of substituting a passenger van for a real school bus, and reminding the motoring public about the federal law prohibiting the sale or lease of a new van as a school bus substitute.

While NHTSA and others are here today to emphasize that children should not ride in vans, 16 states currently allow vans for school transportation, and 24 permit their use to transport students for school-related activities, such as field trips and sporting events. This violates the spirit of a federal law (administered by NHTSA) that prohibits dealers from selling or leasing a new van for use in transporting children to and from school or a school-related activity. Passing a state law allowing vans to be used for transporting school children does not preempt the federal law-dealers are still subject to penalties.

There is more to a school bus than yellow paint. In fact, when it comes to transporting children safely, there is no substitute for a real school bus. School buses are subject to more federal safety requirements than any other motor vehicle on the road. These requirements, as well as their size and weight, give them an inherent safety advantage over almost every other vehicle on the road - especially a passenger van.

Not only is a passenger van a more dangerous way for children to ride, many states permit them to be driven by coaches, teachers and students who may not be familiar with the fact that these vehicles handle differently when fully loaded. In contrast, school bus drivers are among the most heavily regulated and best-trained drivers on the road.

School buses and school bus drivers have an impressive safety record unequalled in motor vehicle transportation. In the Year 2000, just 6 children were tragically killed as school bus occupants, and most of these involved crashes with catastrophic circumstances. Every year, the Nation's fleet of 440,000 school buses travels more than 4 billion miles, transporting more than 24 million children to and from school and school-related activities-almost always without serious incidents.

Parents need to know that the biggest school-related safety risk for children is not violence at school-it's their choice of transportation to and from school. Riding in anything other than a school bus greatly increases risk. More than 600 school-age children are killed each year in passenger cars, light trucks and vans during normal school transportation hours. Almost all of these tragic deaths could be prevented if children rode in school buses.

Our message to states is do not cut corners on pupil transportation. Do not use vans to transport children, period. Our message to parents is to find out what your child is riding in, and demand nothing less than a big yellow school bus.