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All school buses should have and enforce seat belt use because of the precious passengers they transport. Most states in the United States have seat belt laws. Some are more relaxed than others, yet the primary reason for these laws are to protect lives. Unexpected accidents can happen at any minute. Some drivers are not as alert as others, and for these and other reasons seat belt laws and use should be mandatory.

All of us know of people who have been literally thrown through the front widow of a car, van or truck. Some survive and others don't. But those who live to tell it will tell you that a seat belt could have prevented them from their sustained injuries. One of my friends constantly reminds anyone in a car to use a seat belt because his life was dramatically altered because he was riding with his parents in a car and was thrown out of the car. Since that day, he has had to undergo over 28 surguries and suffers permanent impairment as a result. One of his parents was killed in the collision. School buses are no different. Children are chatting, playing, and just being children on a bus. Sometimes their actions effect the driver of a school bus, and he/she forgets to turn, or stop. If seat belt usage is in place, many students will at least be more secure in case the bus is impacted.

Most parents want their children to be safe on the way to school and coming from school as well as on field trips or excursions. Most parents would demand seat belt usage just as they do in their own personal vehicles. Most children are use to seat belts having been strapped in from babyhood. It only takes a minute or two to buckle up. There are times, of course, when a person may have been restricted from exiting a vehicle due to a seat belt locking, but overall those times are more rare than existing. At least the child in the seat belt is not out in a vacant field or over a cliff, or somewhere outside of the vehicle.

Another good thing about seat belts is that they prevent a certain amount of action on a bus. Children who like to pop up and down are more confined to their seat. Those excessively active children can be more secure and the bus driver can see them in their seat as he looks back through the rearview mirror. In case of an accident, he will not have to become alarmed that they are not rolling down the aisles or mashed against a door or window in an attempt to escape. Even children who ride the bus in wheel chairs need the security of being a seat belt for their condition.

The seat belt laws are for everyone's safety. There were many test crashes instituted before these laws were put in place. Research will show that those who are strapped in have a much higher rate of being protected in the case of crashes and collisions. All school buses should be equipped with these safety features. Those little straps can mean the difference between a bright eyed child smiling at you knowing his/her life was protected, and the difference in seeing one of our little ones taken away in an ambulance, never more to talk, walk, or live. Safety precautions must supercede scanty suppositions.

Learn more about this author, Toni Doswell.
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