Bus Accident Statistics 2025

Note: Although this page has been updated in 2013, the most recent statistical data available is for the year 2011.

There is no doubt that the number of accidents on American roads is increasing every year. Injuries and deaths accumulate until the end of every year, only to start the count over again for the next year. Even public transportation vehicles experience crashes every year, but these are relatively low compared to those involving everyday drivers. Bus accident statistics, for example, are lower than the average statistics for car accidents. According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), 12,859 people were injured in bus crashes in 2025 in America. Some states experience more bus crashes than others, like California, for example. California is one of the worst states in the nation when it comes to bus crashes, with 628 reported injuries from 411 crashes in 2025.

Major Causes of Bus Crashes

Driving accidents are virtually impossible to avoid 100% of the time, but there are plenty of examples of how bus drivers can be at fault. One of the leading causes of bus accidents is a driver’s failure to see other vehicles on the road. Buses are big and bulky, which produces various blind spots that make it difficult for the bus driver to see everything around them. Another major contributor to bus accident statistics involves inadequate training. Some bus drivers are not properly trained, a frequent factor in many lawsuits involving bus crashes. Poor bus maintenance is also a major contributor to the annual number of bus accidents.

2025 Bus Accident Statistics (Most Recently Available Data)

• 212 – number of people killed in 2025
• 12,859 – number of people injured

Annual Bus Accident Statistics

• Every year, 360 million people take the bus for one reason or another.
• A combined 28 billion miles are traveled by bus passengers every year.
• There are 30,000 commercial buses on the road in America alone.
• Every day, there are 450,000 school buses on the road.
• 12,000 injuries annually are experienced by children on school buses.
• Around 11 children die each year from a bus accident.

Understanding Liability – Requirements of a Bus Driver

The first step in determining who is responsible is understanding liability concerns. Before operating a bus, a bus driver should be thoroughly licensed and well-trained. It takes the appropriate training to operate a shuttle bus, commercial bus, school bus, or any other kind of public bus. Bus drivers are accountable for the safety of their passengers, and if they are found at fault, they will also be held liable for any harm brought on by a bus accident.

Simple Steps to Protect Your Rights after a Bus Accident

The first and most obvious step after a bus crash is to file a report. Reports should be filed with local law enforcement, like the sheriff’s department or the highway patrol. Obtaining detailed information from everyone involved in a bus accident is also important. Take pictures of the accident and any injuries that you or other passengers may have experienced. Never sign any document until you speak with your lawyer in order to avoid deceptive contracts. Seek out medical attention right away, and obtain copies of all medical records pertaining to the injuries received from a bus accident.

Bus Crash Examples

Bus accidents can be especially dangerous for both passengers on board and other vehicles on the road. A bus, when it loses control, may become a massive metal projectile that can tear through almost anything in its path.

Southern California Bus Crash

In a 2013 accident on a southwest mountain road, a speeding bus rear-ended a sedan, causing the bus to flip and strike a pickup truck. At least eight people were killed, and another three dozen reported injuries. The bus, in this case, had been full of men, women, and children returning from a weekend ski trip.

The bus driver, who survived the crash, reportedly told accident investigators that the brakes on the bus were faulty.

The southwest bus crash reportedly occurred less than 24 hours after another bus crash was reported on the east coast.

East Coast Crash

The East Coast crash occurred when the bus struck an overpass while traveling on a road not fit for it. Apparently, the driver involved failed to heed warnings on the roadway intended for oversize vehicles.

In all, 34 people were injured in the East Coast crash, one with reportedly life-threatening injuries and three more with serious injuries. The passengers, in this case, were a group of high school students and adult chaperones on a weekend college visit. While an investigation will determine whether the driver in the East Coast crash should face more serious charges, investigators were at least certain he would be cited for operating a vehicle in violation of height requirements.

Tour Bus Collides with Tree

Reports indicate that a tour bus lost control and crashed on a mountain road, with unsafe speed cited as the cause. In all, 16 people reported injuries, 15 of which were described as minor to moderate.  The passengers on the bus were members of a tour group returning from Yosemite National Park — the driver was the only person who was not hurt.

The crash was reported sometime around 6 p.m. Highway Patrol officials went on to report that the impact of the collision caused most of the passengers to be thrown to the driver’s side of the bus before the bus struck a tree. Had it not been for the tree, the bus would have no doubt fallen into a nearby ravine.  The area where the crash occurred is a winding road with speed limits that seem to drop to 35 mph with little to no warning.

Officials from the California Highway Patrol indicated that unsafe speed appears to have been the main contributing factor to the crash. The driver was not arrested, and drugs or alcohol do not immediately seem to have played a factor.

Tour Bus Safety

In the case mentioned above, reports indicated that the road where the incident occurred was winding and that speed limits often drop to 35 mph without much warning.  While this may minimize the liability of an at-fault driver involved in a car vs. car collision, the fact that the driver was a dedicated driver for a tour bus company is something the courts will no doubt consider. Typically, tour bus drivers are trained on their routes or at least warned about the dangers of certain unfamiliar routes.  If this accident is eventually found to have been avoidable, that will be of great importance when determining fault and apportioning damages.

Preventable Bus Accidents

What’s perhaps most interesting to note is that the buses in both cases had no business being on the roads on which they were when they crashed.  The bus involved in the southwest crash should have been parked until its brakes were repaired, and the bus involved in the east coast crash should never have been on the road leading up to the overpass it could not fit under. In both cases, a lack of common sense on the part of bus drivers/owners/operators appears to have played at least a role.

Bus passengers generally aren’t in control of bus inspections or deciding routes, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t do anything to prepare for a bus-involved accident.

Many buses don’t have seat belts, but some do. If seat belts are provided on board, they should be properly engaged whenever the bus is in motion. If not, passengers should maintain a sturdy point of contact with the bus at all times. A sturdy point of contact is a handlebar or wrist strap that passengers are meant to hold while the bus is in motion. If a passenger is seated, the seat in front of them can be as good a point of contact as any, especially if unexpected turbulence occurs.

Finally, if actually involved in a crash, passengers should remain on the bus and wait for emergency responders. Exiting the bus onto a crowded roadway without assistance from emergency responders greatly increases the risk of being struck by a passerby who may not be aware of pedestrians.