Seatbelts on schoolbuses?

[underpants]

One of our local governments is taking this up this week. My wife said "Finally" I said "I think this is a bad idea"

I offer two links one for seatbelts and one against.

Thoughts on this anyone?


The National Coalition For School Bus Safety-WHY SCHOOL BUSES NEED SEATBELTS

http://www.ncsbs.org/


National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)-SEATBELTS ON SCHOOL BUSES


http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/buses/pub/seatbelt.hmp.html

In 1989, NAS completed a study of ways to improve school bus safety and concluded that the overall potential benefits of requiring seat belts on large school buses are insufficient to justify a Federal requirement for mandatory installation. NAS also stated that the funds used to purchase and maintain seat belts might better be spent on other school bus safety programs and devices that could save more lives and reduce more injuries.

Rather than requiring seat belts, NHTSA decided that the best way to provide crash protection to passengers is through a concept called "compartmentalization." This requires that the interior of large buses provide occupant protection so that children are protected without the need to buckle-up. Occupant crash protection is provided by a protective envelope consisting of strong, closely-spaced seats that have energy-absorbing seat backs. The effectiveness of compartmentalization has been confirmed in the NTSB and NAS studies.

[Ilsa]

1. They will probably do whatever is cheaper, then claim a victory

and that they are protecting our kids.

[MrModerate]

2. Frankly, I'm for whatever technology is most appropriate . . .

Certainly, seat belts alone, with no modification of the fiberglass-like seats that even belted riders would strike in the event of an accident, would not be effective. However, not having any restraint system in school buses is downright crazy.

[MindPilot]

3. Never understood this at all

Here in the safety-nazi-land of Kulifornya you can damn near go to jail if you don't have the kid properly strapped in the back of the SUV. A cop can pull you over for any vehicle occupant not wearing a seatbelt. In fact my son actually got a seatbelt ticket while he was still sitting in the Jack-in-the-Box drive-thru!

Yet, that same kid can be completely unrestrained in the one of the bulkiest most difficult to maneuver vehicles there is. The inside of a school bus is a torture chamber of sharp edges and cold hard steel; the only padding is the seats (maybe) and the other kids.

Take it from someone who has made that trip from the seat to the grab bar in about 2.2 milliseconds, those things NEED seatbelts.

[underpants]

5. I think it has to do with crashes and the possiblity of fires

This is just off the top of my head.

I think Oprah brought this up a few years ago and she was surprised to learn that most "experts" (take that as you will) that study this think that the risk of kids all being locked in when there is a fire and how unlikely it is that anyone could get into the bus and get all of them loose are too high to warrant seatbelts. If I remember correctly they point out (see NHTSA thread above) that schoolbuses are very safe-they tend not to go at very high speeds for very long and generally everyone is very aware of them being around-the risk of a wreck is very low.

I think that fire and rollovers (lets assume the kids aren't tossed around inside) make the need to be able to quickly evacuate more important that restraining each kid.

[LynneSin]

4. I'll tell you why they want seatbelts on School Buses

Because it'll strap down the kids into the seat instead of having them run & scream all over the bus.

[txindy]

9. They do it anyway. There are some buses around here with seatbelts

Some kids don't use them to buckle themselves in, but they've discovered that 'whipping' their seatmates with the buckle end sure does hurt! :eyes:

[mtnsnake]

6. What I don't like are the new seatbelt laws for motorcycles & bicycles

coming up soon. The one that really pisses me off, though, is the impending seatbelt law for boats and canoes. That's ridiculous!

:evilgrin:

[emc]

18. you've got to be sh--ting me

Where did you hear this----I cant believe this kind of crap--

the next thing they will want is seat belt in restaurants----what the hell is this country coming to---

we are so darned concerned with safety, but guess where we buy the seat belts---china---we make the regulations, but we buy the products overseas-----------Ill bet in china they dont even know what a seat belt is used for---

[Arkansas Granny]

7. I have heard arguments for and against seat belt use in school

buses. All of these studies seem to assume that children will remain in their seats in the event of a collision and that the greatest risk of injury will be from wearing a seat belt that is improperly fitted. However, we are told that in a passenger car, children will become flying objects. This is where I have the most confusion about seat belt usage on buses. Will the children not be flying all over the inside of a bus in the event of a crash, especially if the bus rolls onto it's side or top?

[underpants]

10. That seems to be the main dilemma

unrestrained children flying around in a wreck vs. being able to get restrained children out of their seats should there be a fire or submersion.

[Selteri]

8. My solution - Redesign the bussse completely

Take out the entire death trap, make the driver have a special area, put in adjustable seatbelts, put in chairs tha will fit the body and that aren't objects of tooth-chipping (And worse).

So let's see here -

redesign the front end like they do a truck
redsign the area the bus driver is in
redesign the seats so they are no longer so dangerous
put in seatbelts
add in an emergency seat belt release switch

[jakefrep]

11. I have no problem with the idea...

..of putting belts on school buses. But the cost of retrofitting belts to older buses would be pretty steep. Why not mandate belts on new buses going forward?

[ohio_liberal]

12. A school bus wrecked in my city not long ago

9 kids were taken to the hospital. The driver blacked out, went left of center, off the road, hit a tree, and then ran up an embankment that finally stopped the bus. 28 kids were thrown all over the inside of the bus. Nobody can convince me that seat belts wouldn't have saved some of them from the bumps and bruises.

[Caoimhe]

14. bumps and bruises happen

now imagine if that bus had hit a natural gas tank. If every kid were strapped in, it would be a complete death trap, and bumps and bruises wouldn't be the worry.

[ohio_liberal]

15. And if the bus and gone left of center and hit a dairy truck head on

I imagine it would've been lots worse than bumps and bruises without a proper seat belt. :shrug:

[Caoimhe]

16. So do you propose

overhead storage for backpacks, toys, pencils? All become airborne in a wreck. I just don't think seatbelts are the answer. Not when there is the possible need for quick escape. I am willing to bet that kids are safer in a school bus than in your family car on any given day.

[ohio_liberal]

17. I propose seat belts

That's all. It takes my 4 year old daughter about a second to unlatch a seatbelt.

[Caoimhe]

13. I agree with you

Unless we want to make school buses into roller coaster trains with locking safety restraints (even those you have to be a certain heighth to ride) I just don't think the idea of seatbelts (lap belts) is feasible. Kids won't wear them, and it will become another chore and distraction for the bus driver who is trying to navigate traffic with the massive beast of a bus. People who think because they have to restrain their children in their own car, that buses should have seatbelts, need to really rethink that. Do you use public transit? Do you think adults would comply with mandatory seatbelts on a city bus? Now imagine a bunch of kids from age 6 to 18. How's that gonna go?

We hear about tragic bus accidents and it sticks in our memories, but in terms of traffic accidents, its really a rare thing. Having high seat backs and padding on the front and sides... really does protects most kids when a bus is in a fender bender or drives into a ditch. They are in more danger of flying pencils and textbooks than anything else. In fact, I would guess that heavy backpacks due to these monstrous, glossy paged, tabloidish textbooks is far more dangerous for your child's health than is riding a school bus in traffic every day.

[AZBlue]

19. They should be protected and seat belts are the most practical way.

Schools don't have enough to pay teachers a decent salary, keep all programs open, order textbooks and other supplies and now we're proposing that the buses be "compartmentalized" at a much much higher expense than seatbelts?

Really, what's more important here??