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by Dawn Rohrer

Created on: April 06, 2008

As parents, we do everything in our power to make sure our children are safe. We make them wear helmets when riding their bikes. Knee and elbow pads are used to protect them when skateboarding or rollerblading. Child safety seats and seat belts are required in passenger cars and trucks to protect children from injury in an auto accident. However, most states do not require the same safety restraints in large school buses. Why?

The truth is that school buses are the safest vehicles on the road today without the requirement of seat belt restraints. Buses are built on straight truck chassis with the body mounted on steel I-beams along with frames constructed of heavy gauge steel beams and plates. Buses also use a design called "compartmentalization" that protects passengers in the event of a crash. Thick seat cushions, high backs and the close proximity of the seats provide a padded "compartment" to protect passengers. The seats are also positioned high off the ground to keep normal sized vehicles at the passengers feet. Added to the basic design are numerous escape routes such as roof hatches and emergency exit windows.

Lap belts are required in small buses, those under 10,000 pounds, and in school vans because they are more prone to rollovers. Large buses, because of their weight, are less likely to rollover. In fact, most fatalities involving school buses happen when children are being loaded or unloaded. From 1993 to the year 2000, more than half of bus fatalities occurred when students were exiting the bus and one-quarter occurred while children awaited the arrival of the bus in the morning. Parents and siblings who transport their children to school in the family car are more likely to be involved in an accident. The size and weight of a large bus alone protect the passengers and absorb most of the energy in a crash. The National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration have conducted many studies and have investigated many crashes involving school buses and agree that large school buses have an impressive safety record without the use of seat belts.

Now, let's talk about the issue of student management and the added responsibility for drivers to make sure students are buckled up. School bus operators are already faced with a large responsibility when transporting students. Monitoring the behavior of up to 84 students who are sitting behind the driver's back with only an interior rear view mirror and no aide is a big job. They must adapt to changing traffic, road and weather conditions and maintain a consistent schedule. Disobedient students who refuse to buckle up and students who use the buckles as weapons against other students or to break windows are added dangers. A distracted driver is not a safe driver.

Cost is another large issue when requiring seat belts. Large bus interiors and seats would have to be redesigned to accommodate seat belts. Installing belts in buses already inservice would cost $8,000 to $15,000 per bus. The cost of equipping the nation's entire fleet of large buses would range from $250 million to $465 million. Seating capacity would typically be reduced by 16% to 33% forcing school districts to incur the cost of purchasing additional buses or reducing the number of students transported.

When it comes to school bus safety, the attitude of the driver makes all the difference. Drivers are specially trained to anticipate dangerous driving situations and take steps to avoid a collision or at least minimize the impact. Of course, there are dangers that no one can foresee, but these are rare in occurrence. School buses average seven or eight fatalities per year. This accounts for only 2% of the nation's 40,000 highway fatalities in an average year. The fact is that school buses are already very safe and provide passengers with a safe way to school.

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