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As our children head back to school, each morning and afternoon yellow school buses will flood the rural, suburban, and city streets of the United States. Have you ever stopped to wonder, “Why yellow?” We've compiled the most comprehensive answer for you, courtesy of Columbia University, The New York Times, ColorMaters.com and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration!
The answer dates back to 1939, the year Frank W. Cyr, “Father of the Yellow School Bus,” held a conference for transportation officials, educators, school bus manufacturers and, yes, paint experts. Prior to the conference, Cyr had conducted his own research in which he learned there were no standards for the color of school transportation, a cause of concern for manufacturers.
After seven days, the conference attendees created 42 pages of school bus construction guidelines that included the standardized yellow paint color, dubbed “National School Bus Chrome,” to be used on the exterior of all school busses.
Today, most of these guidelines have been updated in some way, except for one: the yellow color.
Even during poorest of weather conditions, yellow is the safest color for moving vehicles. The school buses’ black lettering stands out against the hue, and according to research, "Lateral peripheral vision for detecting yellows is 1.24 times greater than for red."
In short, safety and tradition is why a big yellow school bus will be picking up your kids this fall, and don’t expect to see any other color. By federal law, a school bus in any other color or shade of yellow cannot be purchased. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “All school buses should … Be painted National School Bus Glossy Yellow, in accordance with the colorimetric specification of National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Federal Standard No. 595a, Color 13432.”
Looking for more Never Stop Asking "Why?" questions? Catch up on all of the past "Why's" on the blog!
