Why is there seatbelt law for driver's in cars but not in Buses and such?

Answer 1

In case of a collision a car is much more likely to hit an object of a similar weight, causing a huge negative acceleration force, pretty much guarantying that you will fly out of the car. The bus is much heavier and will most likely hit an object of a lesser weight thus causing more damage to that object. Plus the size of the bus simply provides more room for destruction. Basically, the bus in all cases will take much more time to come to a complete stop and that lowers the negative acceleration applied to one's body. Say if the car travels at 40 miles per hour and hits another car and takes 0.1 second to come to a complete stop, the negative acceleration of your body will be about 18G. That means your body weight will be 18 times your normal weight. There is no way you can hold yourself in the place with these forces. As a matter of a fact an infant will weigh about 200lb. Now if a bus hits similar object it may not even stop at all or its large body will absorb some of the impact so it may take say 2 seconds to stop, in which case all forces involved are 20 times less. Hence, the statistics that support the view, that in most bus collisions the seat belts will not be relevant, while in most of the car collisions the probability of fatality without a seat belt will be much greater.

Having said that, I must note that I've been on a few tour buses in Europe and most of the luxury coaches there had seat belts similar to those on the airplane.

Answer 2

well I live in Buenos Aires, and here in Argentina the buses are a very big business. There are double-decker buses here, one of only two nations in the world that allows them for long-distance travel... at highway speeds they are very dangerous, they are not stable and fall down, and many deaths have been caused.

also, bus drivers are required to be given weekends off work, but they are not, they are forced illegally to work every day...

and seatbelts? out of the question


I'm not sure if they're really necessary or useful in buses, but I do know the bus companies wouldn't pay for it, at least not here

Answer 3

Because buses are so big that whatever hits them will take the brunt of the impact rather than the bus itself. Meaning that the passengers don't get tossed around.

Also, can you imagine the cost of putting a hundred seatbelts on a bus? And then how do you equally protect the people who are standing?

Answer 4

It's all a racket to support insurance companies with life insurance policy's and help law enforcement agencies with revenue from citations. Why is it that some states don't require motorcyclists to wear helmets, yet have a mandatory seat belt law? At least in a car, you are in an enclosed compartment, on a motorcycle your more at risk - it's all ridiculous. Good debating question.

Answer 5

I know that here in Florida, many counties do have seatbelts in their buses. I think it's a good idea, better safe than sorry.

Answer 6

Statistics. Crash tests of busses show that anything serious enough to be a threat to the passengers is unlikely to be significantly mitigated by seatbelts.

Answer 7

because a cop cant see in a bus ,so he or she cant give everyone a ticket ,hmmm it is common knowledge they arnt equipped with them maybe the law enforcement agency's should start pulling over buses they could get their quota easily

Answer 8

Its just screwy they put them on airplanes but not mass transportation (NUTS)