When School Buses Became Big Yellow Tanks

School buses have been transporting precious cargo in America for over 100 years. They look like bright yellow storage containers flowing through city streets and rural roads twice a day for 180 days out of the year. They are honestly more like tanks, with layers and layers of safety structures. The early wooden coaches gave way to all-metal buses introduced in 1932, and the look hasn't changed much since then. But throughout the years since, more and more changes we can't even see have made school buses safer than ever (for the kids inside, at least). 

At first, each state had their own standards for school buses, but in 1939 the engineering teams from each state got together to create national engineering and safety standards. Today, 26 million children ride nearly a half million school buses in America. While deaths and injuries still occur, the number is relatively very small and usually involve people outside the bus. Read how school buses got so safe at the Autopian. The article says it's about the three black stripes on the side, but it contains much more than that. -via Metafilter 

(Image credit: Die4kids)