If small children have to be in car seats or wear seat belts, why dont schoolbuses have seatbelts?

alchemy

Because there is no compelling evidence that seat belts would provide added safety for school bus occupants, and because of the outstanding safety record of school buses, the NHTSA has concluded that there is insufficient evidence for requiring safety belts to be installed

A.Mercer

Generally, the children on school buses who would be travelling without direct supervision are large enough to not have to use a car seat.

Also, in an accident, the school bus will absorb a lot of the energy of the crash than a normal car will. The school bus has a lot more mass. The odds of there being a crash with a school bus and the children being thrown are a lot less than that of a car.

Cookie On My Mind

Good question. I do believe NEWER school buses do now come with seat belts, but older ones don't.
It's probably an issue of money, there's never enough.
I also think back about my childhood and how I never even had a car seat - now it's the law.

StEpH

I have wondered about that question for years also.

littleangelfire81

Actually, every newer school bus I've seen does.
In all honesty from what I researched, it appears it is mostly a money issue, which is horrible! It is the cost of installing seat belts in older buses that prohibits school districts from doing it. Or the idea that they will lose capacity by putting in 2 belts in a seat that theoritically could hold 3 students (but it could only hold 3 if they were really small!).

Apparently, the NHTSA feels there isn't enough reason to federally mandate that buses have seat belts. They say that 'compartmentalization' keeps them safe, which supposedly it doesn't do what its supposed to do.

Supposedly the other reasons they don't have to have seat belts are that they are less vulnerable in a school bus b/c it's weight and mass and b/c in a bus they sit above the point of impact, and that they're not seated near doors or large window openings., so they're not likely to be thrown from the vehicle. Bus drivers actually seem to think belts would pose a threat: that kids hit each other with them, and that it would be impossible to ensure that every kid riding buckles up.

wawas7

Good question. I think that when a bus crashes, though, it's better for people to get their whole body shoved forward into those metal seats than the impact of having their head hit it. I'm not sure. And, regular vehicles have lots of windows that passengers can be ejected out of. Maybe people are less likely to be ejected from a bus?

wi_saint

mostly due to vehicle specs. school buses are some of the largest vehicles on the road, and due to this, they *tend* to be the safer vehicles to be in.
It may also be linked to the added costs for the manufacturer.

jim

Because school departments can't afford them.

geeper94550

I think because of the size of them and they dont go really fast

Colonel

This is a question that has been asked and an argument that has been made for as long as I can remember. I can remember this being a huge debate when I was riding the bus to school in the during the mid 1980's.

The read answer is nobody knows. I think because of the low accident and low injury/fatality rate that is experienced by schools across the United States. I'm sure if the numbers increased, then the Government would mandate them.

Barbie

Generally there are other safety precautions taken in school busses that cars do not have. Many school busses now have seat belts in the front seats and none to the rear.The age of the child dictates where the child sits. As a rule of thumb tho. most busses meet the safety guideline put out by the D.O.T and are not requird to have the lap belts.

On a personal note, I have seen children on schools busses and think the seat belt law should be enforced on busses as well.

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