Why is it that our childrens school buses don't have seat belts?

Question

Like yesterday I was driving down the highway and little kids all standing up riding along....


Do you think they should have seat belts? And if they do why arent they wearing them?

Answer 1

This question crops up on this site with a fair amount of regularity, but it's still a fair question. I will give the same answer I have given many times before.

I have 5 kids in school and, of course, I care about their safety on buses, so this is a topic and question that I have researched thoroughly over the past 8 months. Here is what I have found...

Everyone tends to say the cost is the a main reason buses don't have belts. And while I agree funding could certainly be a factor, consider the following. 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 buses, lap belts alone can 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 can 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 and compartmentalization 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 most school buses.

I know that isn't always the popular position, but it's what most of the facts support.

I hope that helps.

Answer 2

It's hard to tell if seat belts would be a good idea to have on school buses because there are so many factors you have to consider. Besides, seat belts only work when worn correctly, and it would be hard to make sure that a bus full of children are doing just that (especially the younger ones), so they might cause more harm than good. Buses are usually pretty safe to ride in because of their size and build without seat belts. However, this has been a topic of debate where I live ever since a school bus went nose first off an overpass killing four kids last year. Everyone was left wondering if those kids would still be alive had they been wearing seat belts.

Answer 3

1. Many kids wouldn't wear them. 2. Most trips are short. 3. It would be very expensive. 4. It would limit the capacity of the bus. 5. Most injuries in bus/car accidents are not in the bus, because the bus is big, heavy, and well built. 6. Most buses can't go very fast. 7. Lap belts are the only ones you could do, and they are sometimes dangerous. Shoulder belts would make the inside of the bus look like a spiders web and would be very confusing. 8. Technically, different belts are recommended for 6 year olds than for 17 year olds.

Answer 4

Bus drivers are professionals, however they cannot govern the wearing of seat belts on a bus!
For instance, if a bus has no seating for children to sit; they will have to stand, and hold on to something stable in the bus.

Answer 5

The reason I was given by a bus driver when I was in school, was that students would use the buckles as weapons against each other, causing far more injuries over a year than they would receive in an accident, should they have one. As far as students standing up, blame sue-happy parents who refuse to have their precious little child disciplined for doing something wrong. As a result, all disciplinary action (virtually) has been removed from the hands of the bus driver. That's why we see video tapes of students beating up other students on a bus, and nobody does anything about it until police review the tape later!

Answer 6

If the kids were standing up, then the bus driver isn't doing his/her job.

But they don't have seat belts because the seats are designed to keep the kids safe in case of an accident. That's why they're padded on both sides and have high backs.

I don't think they should be required, for in case of an emergency, that's more time that it will take to evacuate the bus. And in case of an emergency that the driver becomes unconscious, especially in the case of smaller kids, they might panic and not know what to do. Also, that seat belt end works pretty well as a weapon to hit other people or to choke other students.

Answer 7

This is just a cop out to save the bus companies and tax payers money. everyone else in a motor vehicle must wear seat belts or be fined.
I know how professional those school bus drivers are because i was one durring the 1960's and you could'nt have paid me enough money to ride with most of them.
I did become a professional tractor trailer driver and drove 2 million accident free miles.
We still had to use seat belts or pay a fine allthough the big rigs offered us plenty of protection. So what is it with not provideing seat belts for our most treasured children and the Law looks the outher way.
Just think about it we buckel our kids in our automobiles or face be arrested but just put them on a school bus and they dont need that same protection. It just make no sence at all,just imagine all the bodies flying around crashing into each outher if the bus was to roll over.
The buses should have seat belts no and's if's or but's !!!!!

Answer 8

I dont know why they dont make it mandatory. Its the law to protect us all . Our children should be protected to . Back then we didnt need seat belts in school buses . But they should make it legal .They are making all of us pass a submission test on our vehicles so its safer for our ozone . So make seat bealts legal to protect our children.

Answer 9

I survived 1950's cars and 1960's cars and school busses. The chassis sits above the impact on school busses. Most children should sit down. There are well meaning do good's that want to spend millions to seat belt busses. Money better spent keeping kids in school paying teachers.

Answer 10

THE LAW STATES THAT SCHOOL BUSES ARE NOT REQUIRED TO HAVE SEAT-BELTS BECAUSE IT WOULD BE A SAFETY HAZARD TO THE CHILDREN IF THE BUS WAS IN AN ACCIDENT,

AS FOR THE CHILDREN STANDING UP, THIS IS A SIGN OF A BAD OR INATTENTIVE SCHOOL BUS DRIVER.