seat belts-buses-why not a good mix?

Answer 1

Bus Construction
In an accident involving a school bus, most fatalities and injuries occur outside of the bus. The construction of a typical school bus creates a safer passenger environment than that of a car or lighter vehicle. The impact of a crash is weaker because buses are heavier. This force is distributed differently along a bus. Buses have a body-on-frame design. This greatly differs from lighter vehicles, and provides impact protection not found elsewhere.

A bus' interior also differs from a car. The use of closely spaced seats that have padded backs -- a design called compartmentalization -- creates an enclosed environment for passengers in the absence of seat belts.

Studies of Safety
Numerous studies examining the effectiveness of different belt types and seating arrangements came to the same conclusion: seatbelts on a bus have more drawbacks than advantages.

Neither lap nor lap-and-shoulder belts on a bus provide the same type of protection offered in a car. During a head-on collision, the most common type for belts, lap belts, increase the risk of injury. On impact, this type of restraint allows a passenger's head to jerk forward, risking severe head and neck injury. Lap and shoulder belts would require the installation of stiffer seats. These seats could become a source of impact injury. Studies also showed that children slip downwards when restrained by lap and shoulder belts, risking injury to vulnerable internal organs.

In 1999, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) examined the effect of seat belt installation in buses. They came to the conclusion that seat belts actually would result in head injuries and fatalities. In fact, the NTSB found a relationship between most injuries/deaths and the seating position of the passenger. In these cases, the presence of seat belts would change nothing.

While there is no evidence proving that seat belts on buses save lives, there is reason to worry they may cause harm. During an emergency, seat belts could hinder young children from quickly exiting the bus; they simply could not free themselves. Drivers would be hard pressed to monitor belt usage for every student. And the heavy buckles could be used as weapons.

Studies by federal agencies, including the NTSB, have shown bus construction provides greater safety than seat belts ever could. Comparing the design of a school bus to a car is like comparing apples to oranges. Where belts protect passengers during car collisions, their presence may cause severe injuries on a bus. Seatbelts are only required on small buses weighing less than 10,000 pounds because their design more closely resembles a car. It is ironic, but the reality is that seat belts have no place on a school bus.
safety.com

Answer 2

Why no seatbelts in buses? Consider how a bus is made.

There are two ways for passengers to be injured: 1) the bus hit something (or hit by something), or 2) the bus rolled over. Let's consider them separately.

Say the bus hit something or was hit by something. Being hit can't really be avoided, so let's kinda ignore that. Not hitting something is basically driver's responsibility, that goes without saying. So let's examine how to mitigate the damage when it does happen.

Unless that "something" is a) cement wall / whatever immovable object or b) another bus, truck or something of similar or larger size/mass, nothing much will happen to the bus. Buses are high off the ground, so most impact will be BELOW the passenger cabin. Furthermore, the seats in buses are all bolted into the frame, so even in the most severe impact the seats will not be broken off, so basically the most the bodies can move in a crash is the distance between seats. (Now you know why school bus seats are so crampy!) Bodies will get bruises and maybe broken bones, but in general should survive the impact. Adding seatbelt would decrease the injury, but only if a 4-pt or 5-pt harness is used, as it is possible to slip out of lap belts or even 3-pt harness. You also run into whiplash effects, and finally, can you rely on the students to buckle and unbuckle themselves, during both normal circumstances, and after an accident? This would also decrease seating capacity, by the way, as seatbelts designed for young kids may not fit older students, and vice versa. And if you design for the largest common denominator you end up with compromises.

The exceptions would be when the frame's broken (like, say a train tore off a section of the bus), but not much is going to survive that, period. Another exception is when something sharp penetrated the body of the vehicle, but those are extremely rare and very hard to protect against.

Now let us examine the other cause: rollovers. The primary cause for a bus rollover is a sudden maneuver and loss of control, causing the center of gravity to shift uncontrollably. The first question you should ask is WHY would a bus need to make a sudden maneuver? A bus is NOT an agile creature. You would not make sudden maneuvers with a big rig, or you will end up with a jacknifing rig, or worse, a rolled rig. (And we do see that occasionally) Same with a bus. A bus can survive hitting most things without damaging its occupants, but a ROLLOVER WOULD hurt the occupants more. So the driver, often when trying to avoid an accident, cause an worse one.

Now let's examine... would seatbelts prevent injuries caused by rollovers, and what side effects would that have? If properly belted in by 4-pt or 5-pt harnesses, there's no doubt that the children would survive a rollover, albeit probably with a bit of whiplash, as well as some bruises or cuts by objects flying about the cabin. So there, seatbelts can save someone from injuries in this situation for sure. However, here comes the next problem: can you trust the students to unbuckle themselves AFTER an accident, esp. when the bus is sitting sideways or even upside down? That's the major issue worth considering. And again, we're dealing with seat belt sizes, seating capacity, and similar issues as before.

Then we come to enforcement and praticality. It is practically impossible for the driver to enforce the seatbelt rule. I'm sure the driver can go belt someone in, but that person can unbelt themselves as well to move about. The driver can stop and lecture the kids, but he'll likely be ignored, and he has a schedule to keep. Then what?

Answer 3

having seat belts in buses is a bad idea because in an accident if you are seat belted in with only a lap belt the rate of spinal injuries will go through the roof. they will only be able to put lap belt in buses because kids can not use the shoulder strap because they are too small. If you ever rode the bus as a kid remember how you would turn to talk to your friends that you really did not pay attention the what was going on out side of the bus, kids still do that and that means they are relaxed so when an accident dose happen and the kids get thrown around the bus are relaxed so they get less injured. there may be more cuts and minor injuries but the majority will be ok and not have anything wrong with them.

Answer 4

Adding seat belts to school buses will cause additional head injuries and probably additional deaths in some crashes, the National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday, and instead it recommended better padding to protect the students

Answer 5

it would take too long to get kids out if there was a fire and the kids couldnt unbuckle ther belts. and parents might not male drivers possible have to unbuckle female passeragers.
my district has seat belts but if i kid cant put them or unbuckle them they should use them because the drivers arent allowed to unbuckle(could be sued).also they could cause internal injuries.

Answer 6

647 (that's my how many times this question has been asked counter)

The answer is: until recently, belts were not REQUIRED like they are on autos. The school systems didn't want to spend extra money for "optional at extra cost" seat belts.

Answer 7

Trust me it is coming. Unfortunatelly, It always takes a tragedy to force a change