Seat Belts For School Buses

Posted on June 30, 2008 by Paula Strand

Belt or no belt, that is the question

As your child steps inside the school bus every morning, do you worry that the bus being ridden is safe? As our little ones travel back and forth from school on the bus, should we think about them wearing a seat belt? Each day, 475,000 yellow school buses travel our nation’s roads and highways. Historically school buses have not been equipped with safety belts. Only in the past several decades have concerned parents and some safety advocates pushed for stricter laws to mandate seatbelts use. The argument is simple. Seatbelts are used in most other forms of transportation, so why not use seat belts on school buses?
 

Federal law requires seat belts in smaller buses weighing less than 10,000 pounds, some of which are used in the Washington region to transport pre-kindergarten or special education students. But this law does not apply to the large buses weighing 25,000 pounds or more that carry most of our students. States are free to extend the seat belt requirement to larger buses, but only six states have passed such laws. They include New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, California, Texas and Florida. Seat belts have been required on passenger cars since 1968. Forty-Nine states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws requiring the drivers and passengers of cars and light trucks to wear seat belts. Seat belts have often resulted in keeping people safer and may reduce the risk of death in passenger vehicles.
 

 

Those opposing seat belts in buses, most notably, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, assert that riding a school bus is safer than most modes of transportation. This would include a regular passenger car, bike riding and even walking to school. They argue that due to its size and design, the risk of injury or death on a school bus as opposed to a car is greatly reduced. Large school buses are heavier and distribute crash forces differently than passenger cars and light trucks. Because of the size and weight distribution differences, the crash forces experienced by occupants of buses is much less than that experienced by occupants of passenger cars, light trucks or vans. Opponents offer study after study, which show that the use of seat belts does not increase school bus safety.

Those in support of seat belts argue that school buses prove to be safer in front-end collisions. However, lateral impacts and rollover crashes are a different matter entirely. Regardless of seat positioning (close spacing of seats and high padded seats designed to absorb the crash forces and protect the child) the injuries are more severe in those lateral or rollover accidents. Thus, seatbelts can save lives in the rare but dangerous accidents involving a rollover or lateral impact crash.

There are the costs to consider to equip our school buses with seat belts. States receive funds from the Federal Government to support State highway safety programs. Maryland for instance, received $3.3 million in federal funds in FY 2007, yet the State estimates it would cost $80 million to equip large school buses with three-point safety belts. They argue that this $80 million could come at the cost of other competing, potentially more effective highway safety programs. For example, reduce drunk driving, curb speeding, as well as focus on improving occupant protection for the general population. The school bus seat belt issue is simply not on the politicians’ radar. Sadly, our politicians will most likely ignore the seat belt problem unless a tragedy strikes our children. For parents who put their children on the bus every day, there is no greater priority than their children’s safety.

To learn more about auto issues please click on Maryland automobile accidents.  To learn more about our Maryland automobile accident attorneys, please read about our firm, and see the bios on Andrew Bederman, Roger Greenberg, or Jason Fernandez.
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