Since the state is big on "Click it or loose it", why are they blind to school buses without seatbelts?

Question

Why are we all constantly exposed to the drone of "you better buckle up, or we are going get you". And parents are chatised and publically scorned for not buckling up their children, in these safety chairs that look like something out of Buck Rogers, that cost almost as much as a small space ship. Control and coercion at every turn. And yet the school buses are devoid of safety belts. What is all that about?

I just got an email from a good friend (down in Katrina hit Slidel - which is a community of some 100,000 just North of New Orleans) who's children are now being bused to over crowded schools, three abreast in the buses. How safe can that be? How come our children are safe in school buses, but not safe in automobiles? Where is the rationale in that?

And what happens to all those steel grab bars when the buses do a roll over and children inside are floppying around all over the place? I think these should be rubber coated too.

I say we petition the public fool system to install seat belts in school buses and pay for it with a reduction in salaries from the higher up mucky mucks. Refuse to have them bus our children, until the environment is as safe as the cars we drive.

Actually, there is a better idea to all of this. Don't bus a child under 12 years of age. That would be a simple solution and would keep the state away from out children and out of their and our lives!

I don't recall reading anything in the state or federal Constitution regarding bussing children to school or cradle to the grave state care, do you?

Answer 1

I have been saying that for years. I would not let mine go on the bus for field trips due to the lack of seatbelts. It just shows they make a law to make money off the tickets. If they really cared about the kids safety, the buses would be well equipped.
They say expense? What about the expense of the bill they passed over a million taxpayer funded dinners and golf games?

Answer 2

I can't explain this, but I'm writing simply because it has always bothered me. I don't mind the seats in cars. Although they can be expensive, they really don't have to cost a small fortune, and their benefits greatly outweigh their costs.

On the other hand, I have absolutely no idea why we can be so lax on child safety in school buses. Near where I live, a dump truck and a bus had a head-on collision. Perhaps if the safety were better on the bus, two children wouldn't have died. Simply put, I believe that every school bus should have seat belts. Maybe someone wiser than me can explain why they don't.

P.S. I'm lucky enough to be able to arrange before and after-school care for my little one, so either my wife or I drop her off/pick her up from school.

Answer 3

As a school bus driver& and a state certified trainer,I can tell you that one of the main reasons we dont use seat belts in the buses is if a fire were to break out,imagine the amount of time it would take for those kids to get unbuckled,and get out of the bus.
You may think its only a few extra seconds,how can it matter,right?
You have roughly four minutes to get out of a bus when its on fire
before the fumes get you.
Within seconds, the bus is filled with smoke,and you cant see anything at all.you have no idea how disoriented you become.
Plus children get scared and often try to hide under seats,or panic and would never be able to get the seat belts off.
As far as kids being three to a seat,that problem is mainly due to the shortage in bus drivers.
It is an extremely stressful job,with an incredible amount of responsibility, and the pay is awful.
They just dont want to cough up any money for raises, because to them we are just bus drivers,and we are expendable.

hope that gives you some insight!

Answer 4

Good question. Could be the amount of money that it would cost to install seat belts. The way kids run around on the school buses these days....how in the world would you ever get them all buckled in and kept buckled in?

Second.....in case of a wreck, it has to do with getting all those kids out of a bus if they were all locked in with seatbelts. Still, they need seatbelts. Pops

Answer 5

That is something I have always wondered myself. Especially when you hear of buses in accidents and kids are hurt or killed. Maybe they need to put seat belts on all the school buses. There are many days in the winter or bad weather I won't let my daughter ride the bus, I would rather take her myself than see her on the interstate in an unsafe bus!

Answer 6

First off, in a school bus, children have to fly further to go through the windshield. Second, the seats are, on average 12" taller than your average car seat. This means the kids will bounce between two padded surfaces.
Three, I personally think seatbelts should be an option. Let the stupid peole die if they wish.

Answer 7

That's why if your car runs into a school bus, you are automatically at fault because everybody knows the kid's don't wear seat belts on a bus. The govt' makes a lot of sense, not just restrictive laws..

Answer 8

Giving you a ticket for not belting someone in the car creates revenue for the State. You didn't really think the state cared for your welfare did you?

However, putting seat belts on buses would take money out of the politicians were going to use to for their heft salaries and to give in campaign contributes in the form of pseudo-contracts. In summary, they don't care about our children.

Personally, I like the two padded seat theory above.....As if the force and impact have really changed enough to prevent injury because of cheap padding on the seats!

Answer 9

I don't know but that is something that has really puzzled me also. I think it is so unsafe for children to be riding in those huge busses with no seatbelts! If the bus were to crash, can you imaging the impact on a child? I remember flying in the air just from going over a bump.

Answer 10

A school bus weighs a lot more.

Also, almost all states allow people to ride in the bed of a pickup truck (with certain restrictions).

That's like asking a question like why don't they put seatbelts on motorcycles.