Should there be upper age limits for school bus drivers?

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - How old is too old? 24-Hour News 8 is looking into the issue of school bus safety, specifically, the age of drivers. The numbers may not be what you expect.

Indiana law requires school bus drivers to be at least 21 years old, but there is no maximum age limit. According to the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, 28 percent of Hoosiers who hold valid school bus licenses are 60 or older, and 7 percent are older than 70.

The latest school bus fatality in central Indiana involved bus driver Thomas Spencer. The Marion County coroner ruled the 60-year-old had a heart attack at the time of the crash. He and a passenger, 5-year-old Donesty Smith, died in the crash.

Two months later, 73-year-old Jack Thomas lost control of his Carmel Clay School bus after he was bounced out of his seat. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt. The bus crashed into a homeowner's garage. Thomas survived and later resigned from his job.

In light of the two crashes, we asked state Rep. Bob Behning, who sits on the House Education Committee, if Indiana should have a school bus driver age limit requirement.

"If there is a direct correlation, I think at some point in time we should be looking at it and trying to determine if the correlation between age is impacting school buses," he said.

But national data suggests there is a correlation - but it doesn't involve the oldest drivers.

We looked at 2008 numbers of fatal school bus crashes in the U.S. Of the 120 fatal crashes, 56 percent involved school bus drivers between the ages of 41 and 60. That percentage drops to 24 percent for drivers between 61 and 75.

According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, each year around 139 people die in school bus-related accidents.