Why No Seatbelts in School Bus?

[dave lackey]

Here's a thought for a photography project:

With 144 school bus accidents/day in this country, why is it that there is not a requirement for seatbelts or other safety devices in a school bus?

The figures reported on the Weather Channel this morning accompanied terrible photos and reports of deaths. Got me thinking how much of an impact that photos make.

 

[Hjortsberg]

Here's a thought for a photography project:

With 144 school bus accidents/day in this country, why is it that there is not a requirement for seatbelts or other safety devices in a school bus?

The figures reported on the Weather Channel this morning accompanied terrible photos and reports of deaths. Got me thinking how much of an impact that photos make.

I remember asking my next door neighbor this (who was on the local school board) when I was a kid, must have been in the mid to late 70's. And here was his honest to God answer:

Because if we put seatbelts on the schoolbus, the children would use them as weapons

 

[dmr]

Why are there no seatbelts on a city bus?

On a hotel or car rental shuttle?

In a limo for hire?

You do see them in some taxis now.

 

[sevo]

From talking to a bus operator, urban/suburban buses only rarely have accidents where they are fast enough and hit hard enough targets that seatbelts are a matter of life and death, while seatbelts on the other hand slow down leaving the bus, thus lengthening the exit period during which most fatal accidents happen - seatbelts might be life savers in one incident with twenty dead while they during the same period cause fifty children to run from behind a bus into a passing car...

 

[alexnotalex]

And it would cost significant amounts of money to equip all existing school buses with seat belts, for no profit.
Who would pay for that?

 

[dave lackey]

And it would cost significant amounts of money to equip all existing school buses with seat belts, for no profit.
Who would pay for that?

Parents and Grandparents. Schools are not for profit and government always gets their money through taxes. A child's life has no dollar amount.

My kids grew up and were fortunate enough NOT to be on a bus when it crashed. Our grandkids now ride a bus along a State Hwy. which has more than a dozen deaths from traffic accidents in the past 5 years on the bus route.

Yeah, I would pay more taxes for seatbelts to protect the kids.:angel:

 

[Ducky]

The original argument against belts in busses was the idea of kids swinging them and intentionaly or accidently hurting someone. It's still a good argument. Such use of the belt would add to the distraction of the driver as well.

 

[FrankS]

Good question Dave, but there is an answer. In a car, the ratio of adults to children occupants is quite low. In the event of a fire or other situations where escaping the vehicle quickly is required (think: stuck on train track with train coming) the adult occupant(s) in a car with 1, 2, or even 3 children in seatbelts would have an easier time getting them out than a single bus driver with 40 children on a bus. Additionally, the bus seatbacks are padded, and a school bus is much safer in most collisions, due to its size and mass, than a car.