Riding the bus is an exciting adventure millions of kids experience each year for the first time. We already know the wheels on the bus go ’round and ’round, but if you’ve ever stopped to wonder why school buses are yellow, today’s wonder is for you. Hop on board. We saved you a seat!
Have you ever wondered…
- Why are school buses yellow?
- Is “school bus yellow” a real color?
- What is the most attention-grabbing color?
Did you know?
Each school day, yellow school buses transport millions of American kids to and from school. The school bus’ signature yellow color isn’t just for looks. It’s also a matter of safety.
Federal law in the United States requires that, in addition to flashing lights and safety devices, school buses must be painted “school bus yellow.”
Before the standard school bus yellow color was developed, school buses were a pure yellow, closer to the color of a lemon. School bus yellow is neither pure yellow nor pure orange. Instead, it is a mix of the two, similar to the color of the flesh of a mango.
You may not find it in a box of crayons, but school bus yellow is a real color. In 1939, Dr. Frank W. Cyr organized a conference to establish standards for U.S. school buses.
This included a standard yellow color for all school buses in the United States. Originally the color was known as “National School Bus Chrome.”
Stop signs and stoplights are red, which leads many people to believe red is the most attention-grabbing color. In fact, yellow gets your attention faster than any other color.
Even if you are looking straight ahead, you can see a yellow object that is not directly in front of you out of the corners of your eyes. Objects you can see out of the corners of your eyes are in your “peripheral field.”
Scientists have found that people are able to see yellow objects in their peripheral field 1.24 times better than red. Unlike red, yellow is also more easily noticed in a dark environment.
This is one of the major reasons school bus yellow was chosen. The black lettering on yellow is the easiest color combination for drivers to see in the darkness of early morning when students are being picked up for school.
Try it out!
The wheels on the bus go ’round and ’round — and you keep getting older and older! Capture each year on the bus with your very own school bus frame.
You can even make your frame longer and add more windows so you can include a photo from each year of elementary school!
Wonder words to know and use:
- signature
- transport
- safety
- standard
- mango
- chrome
- attention
- peripheral
Still wondering?
You already know how children get to school every day. Check out the Smithsonian National Museum of American History’s interactive Where’s Everyone Going? game to learn more about how other people get to the places they need to go.
Wonder what’s next?
It’s playtime in Wonderopolis. You’ve heard of a hand-picked tune, but have you ever heard of a finger-picked one? You will tomorrow!
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I have actually wondered why school buses are yellow, but have never given it that much thought. Once, a friend of mine told me why most people caught speeding are people driving red cars. I thought it was because speeders liked the color red, but she told me it was because when a policeman is on the patrol a flash of red is much more noticeable than a flash of any other color. But after reading this, I think that a flash of yellow would be more noticeable. I also think that crayola should make a school bus colored crayon. This wonder is truly wonderful.
We never knew that about speeders and their red cars, Allison! Thanks so much for teaching US something new today! We’re glad you liked this Wonder of the Day®!
I loved this information in the text because it is something everyone has in common. We have all seen a school bus. My favorite fact was before the standard school bus yellow color was developed, school buses were a pure yellow, closer to the color of a lemon. School bus yellow is neither pure yellow nor pure orange. They are a mix between the two.
We think that’s a GREAT fact about school buses, Megan! Thank you for all your awesome comments today…we can tell you have been doing a LOT of WONDERing, and that makes us SUPER happy!
I thought we use yellow on school buses because it is mild to our eyes. Thanks, wonderopolis for enlightening me!
We’re glad you learned something new about the color of school buses by exploring this Wonder of the Day® about them Amoolya! Thanks for letting us know!
Hello,
I never knew that yellow gets a person’s attention faster than any color. Another thing that I learned was that school bus yellow is a real color! I never knew these things. Two new vocabulary words I learned are chrome and peripheral. Peripheral means the things that you can see out of the corner of your eye. I still have one more question about school buses, why can’t school buses just be the color yellow and not school bus yellow?
That’s a SUPER question, Team McNeil 11! Because that same color has been used for so long, we think when people see school bus yellow, their brains automatically say, “school bus.” If another yellow was used, it might not make people remember to be super careful when they see the school bus!
That is really cool. I just assumed that was something bus companies did. I had no idea that it was actually a law. And that it is a specific color.
Thanks for letting us know you learned something new by exploring this Wonder about the color of school buses, Chuck…that is AWESOME! We thought it was really interesting to learn the story behind “school bus yellow,” too!