There has been much debate over whether school buses are considered to be safe for children to ride to school every day. One of the main issues that causes controversy revolves around seat belts. Large school buses are not required to have seat belts. Some studies have shown that adding seat belts does not improve occupant protection from severe frontal impacts. Large school buses, because of their size and weight, distribute crash forces differently than cars, trucks, and minivans. Today, large school buses are designed through a concept called “compartmentalization.” The idea is that in the event of an accident, children will collide with the energy-absorbing seat backs, which should absorb crash forces and minimize injuries.
But what about side-impact collisions?
However, while school buses may be just as safe without seatbelts in a front-impact crash, side impact crashes can pose a greater danger to kids. Injuries may result from children being thrown out of their seats into the walkway and thrown into the side of the school bus.
Side-impact collisions show the importance of requiring school buses to be equipped with seat belts. Seat belts will help keep a child in place in the event of an accident and would work well with the energy-absorbing seat backs. To further support this concept, research has shown that there have been no documented injuries or fatalities as a result of the use of seat belts on school buses.
While large school buses are not federally required to come equipped with seat belts, smaller buses (with a gross weight of 10,000 or less) are required to be equipped with seat belts.
What does the government think?
The National Highway Traffic Administration continues to research the safety of school buses throughout the nation and have cautioned states to weigh the pros and cons, including the increased capital costs to purchase and maintain the seatbelts, the reduced seating capacities, and other “unintended consequences” associated with seat belts on school buses. Although no state or school district is prohibited by federal law to not have school buses equipped with seat belts, it seems as though the cost of purchasing and maintaining seat belts is currently outweighing the risk of injury.
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