From
http://www.nasdpts.org/Documents/Paper-ALTOONAtest.pdf
Quote:
Federal Transit Administration Testing of Buses
In 1987, the United States Congress directed the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) of the
U.S. Department of Transportation to establish a Bus Testing Program for transit buses. Under
the program, testing is required on all new model buses before they can be purchased with Federal
funds. [Note: Since school buses are not purchased using Federal funds, they are not required to
be tested under the Bus Testing Program.] Most of the testing under the Bus Testing Program is
conducted at the Altoona Research and Testing Center in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and is often
referred to as the AAltoona Tests.@ Some of the testing is conducted at the Bus Research and Test
Facility at Penn State University.
There are significant differences between the Federal Transit Administration's Bus Testing
Program and the testing required by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) that
are issued by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Tests conducted under the Bus Testing Program is done by the Federal
government, while FMVSS testing is the responsibility of the vehicle manufacturer.
NHTSA conducts limited, random compliance testing to verify the manufacturers'
certification that their products meet the FMVSSs.
The results of the tests conducted under the Bus Testing Program are compiled
into a test report that is made available to the manufacturer of the bus, and are
provided to potential purchasers during the bus procurement process.
The results of the FMVSS testing conducted by manufacturers are used by those
manufacturers to certify that a vehicle meets all applicable FMVSSs as of the date
of vehicle production. For example, a manufacturer must have extensive, objective
laboratory test results on the seat structure, seat anchorage, seat foam, and, if
applicable, the restraint system and associated anchorages to certify that the school
bus meets the passenger crash protection requirements of FMVSS No. 222.
The tests required by the Bus Testing Program are significantly different from the
tests required by bus manufacturers to show compliance with the FMVSS.
FMVSS tests provide quantitative Apass@ or Afail@ information, while the Bus
Testing Program provides mostly qualitative comparative information on buses.
While the tests conducted under the Bus Testing Program provide important
operational information about buses, they are not a substitute for the FMVSS
vehicle safety tests.
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School buses are governed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA) which developed school bus specific standards FMVSS 220, FMVSS 221, and FMVSS 222, and amended FMVSS 105, FMVSS 111, FMVSS 217 and FMVSS 301 as they apply to school buses. The Blue Birds which were built on the school bus chassis would have typically complied with these requirements.
A good document to review is the "Mini Guide to the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Related Regulations" located at
http://www.nasdpts.org/documents/pub...iniguide04.pdf.
If you want to see a good reason to NOT hit something solid with a bus (or motorhome) look at
where NHTSA crashed an MCI into a wall at 32 mpg. Also see
where a Thomas Freightliner School Bus is crash tested. As the cabover truck drivers like to say "Da** I hate being the first one to a crash".