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

I just heard this 2 days ago. Some schools have them already and many other schools are going to get them. I think that its a good idea, after all, their buckled in a car, why not a school bus? Many times, a bus will hit a pot hole and the kids in the back fly up out of their seats. I think that it would be safer all around.

Answer 2

that is confusing to inform if seat belts can be a robust idea to have on college buses because there are such an excellent style of aspects you should take under consideration. besides, seat belts in basic terms artwork at the same time as worn wisely, and it would want to be confusing to be sure that a bus finished of youthful toddlers are doing in basic terms that (rather the more youthful ones), so that they'd reason more suitable damage than strong. Buses are many times noticeably secure to journey in because of their length and construct with out seat belts. although, this has been a topic of discussion the position I stay ever because a school bus went nostril before each and everything an overpass killing 4 toddlers very last 365 days. all and multiple become left questioning if those toddlers might want to nonetheless 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

Commonly, people believe that school children are not protected during a crash because school buses do not have seat belts. In fact, school buses are designed with a clever occupant protection system that fits both a kindergarten student and a high school senior, without the need for seat belts. This occupant protection system is called compartmentalization: the seats are strong, closely spaced together, high backed, well padded, and are designed to absorb energy during a crash. Compartmentalization works best in frontal and rear impact scenarios.

School buses are one of the safest forms of transportation on the road today. An average of only 7 passengers are fatally injured each year as school buses carry over 23.5 million children daily.

Answer 5

"Why don't large school buses have seat belts like cars do?

Many parents are worried about the contradiction between the need to use seat belts and child passenger seats in automobiles and the lack of these safety devices in school buses, which don't require seat belts. One reason seat belts are not required on school buses is that the greater weight and mass of a school bus means that passengers are less vulnerable in a school bus than in an automobile, and they sit above the usual point of impact. Another is the school bus passengers are not seated near doors or large window openings, so they are not likely to be thrown from the vehicle. Protection from ejection is a primary function of automobile seat belts.

But the main reason is that school buses incorporate a passive restraint system called compartmentalization, which is designed to protect children without seat belts. "

"I've heard that term -- compartmentalization -- in connection with The Great Seat Belt Debate. What exactly does it mean? And why is it important to the debate?

The term was coined in the late 1960s by researchers at UCLA. Broadly, the term compartmentalization. denotes a safety envelope or "compartment" around passengers in school buses. The idea is that if a crash occurs, the child may be thrown around within the compartment but the design of the seat compartment absorbs the crash forces and protects the child. However, the seats currently installed in school buses are different from those recommended by UCLA researchers. The seats they proposed were 8" higher, were more energy absorbing, and were equipped with a massive side arm at the aisle to complete the compartment."


"What does compartmentalization have to do with why seat belts are not required required in school buses?

Seat belts are not required in school buses over 10,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight rating (G.V.W.R.) because the federal government concluded from available research that compartmentalization is a better safety measure. Some of the key arguments favoring compartmentalization rather than seat belts are as follows:

* Compartmentalization is more manageable. The protection exists and is in force without depending on any action by the children or any extra special supervision by drivers or monitors. Seat belts require discipline and supervision to keep them clean, unraveled, in use, and properly adjusted.

* Compartmentalization works equally well for one, two or three students per seat. Today's 39-inch wide standard seats may contain three small children or two large ones or any combination in between. Arranging seat belts to properly handle any combination is difficult, if not impossible; the best known solution with seat belts is to restrict each seat to two students and two belts, which has the disadvantage of sharply reducing the carrying capacity of bus fleets.

Compartmentalization works whether students have fully developed abdominal areas or not. Conventional seat belts, which are lap restraints only, are not suitable for small children (under 8 years of age) whose abdominal area and bone structure are not adequately developed to take the force of a lap belt alone. They need the help of chest harnesses also, which adds to the complexity of a proper safety belt solution.
* Compartmentalization, once it has done its energy absorbing job, leaves the student free to escape the bus. Seat belts could leave students strapped in, upside down, perhaps unconscious, in burning or flooding buses.

* Compartmentalization is most affordable. Although not a part of the DOT reasoning, this is a factor to be considered. In evaluating the cost of seat belts, one should include the cost of retractors and chest restraints, also, since those appear to be needed. Even more important to cost projections is the probability that a seat belt solution will lead to two students per seat and greater spacing between seats, thereby requiring more buses for the same student load. "

Answer 6

Sadly, it takes deaths in a car accident before bus companies install seatbelts in school buses. This was the case in the UK, where it took children having to die in bus crashes, before it became compulsory for all school buses to be equipped with seatbelts. It is hard to enforce children, especially those of high school age, to wear the seatbelts but the choice should be there and parents should make it clear to their own child to wear the seatbelts.

Answer 7

Well think about it, If you have 95 kids on one bus and the bus wrecks and catches on fire. You have 1 bus driver to get 95 kids unbuckled and off a bus. It is much safer to get them off the bus fast in case of an emergency. Most accidents do not involve a bus in the first place and if it does it is usally minor!

Answer 8

Many school districts in the United States (I assume that's where you are) don't buy buses equipped with safety belts---unless it's the handicapped bus. Federal law requires all school buses that transport early childhood education students or handicapped students to have safety belts. The regular school buses aren't required to have them, except for the driver, of course.

My opinion will not be popular, and it will probably get me reported , but, no I don't think most school buses should not be equipped with safety belts. Most children would simply use the belts as weapons. Or if the driver is required to belt the children in, reports of 'the driver touched me sexually' will rise thousand fold all over the nation.

Answer 9

well in my district the buses dont have belts. they say it increases the chance of death should the bus be in an accident. no belts means the kids can jump and move to avoid impact

Answer 10

My school bus has seat belts. Noone wears them though. It is a safety hazard.