Is there a reason school buses do NOT have seat belts?

Kraig P

It is a safety design called "compartmentalization". The thought that by controlling the height and padding of the seat the occupant will not be able to gain enough forward energy in a crash to hurt oneself. Also seat belts create a liabily with over 45 children in case of a crash involving water.

honeyswife

If you noticed the seat backs on school buses are higher, I was told by the bus driver that they are made that way to be a safety measure if you shot forward and hit yourself on it I guess. It would be pretty close to impossible to enforce kids wearing seat belts in buses.

teddy

School buses probably should have seat belts installed, but due to money issues, it won't happen. However, would school buses be safer? If an accident happened, and the children couldn't get their seat belts off, how would one bus driver quickly unbuckle that many belts? There is a lot to think about concerning this issue.

2cutekiddos

Buses that are 10,000lbs or less have seatbelts in them, but a regular school bus does not. Public transportation buses that have seats like that of a school bus do not require them either. Passenger seating and crash protection, known as "compartmentalization" is required on school buses. Compartmentalization is a passive occupant protection system using the concept of eggs in a carton. The seats must have flexible, enery-absorbent high seat backs. The combination of these seat backs and narrow spacing creates a compartment within which each occupant is confined in a crash....make sense?? Bus transportation, or to be specific, school bus transportation, is 8 times safer than passenger vehicles. Buses are larger and heavier than most other vehicles. The crash forces are distributed throughout the vehicle differently and are experienced by the occupants differently.

Also, when a bus is in an accident, the chassis actually breaks away from the frame to slow the occupant area down faster.

It seems crazy, but NHTSA has strict regulations on buses and has found certain criteria to deem it safe.

Scott H

This question gets asked weekly. I think the time and effort involved in getting 60 kids to fasten their seat belts would be a nightmare. I agree, they should be equipped with them, though.

bubbliebub

I have seen a few school buses with seat belts but they were really cheap or broken. Maybe they aren't required because it is really unlikely that a kid would go flying through the front window if they are in their seats.

Kaylin

On the school buses in Missouri that I used to ride they had seat belts in both sides of the first 5 seats for little kids. I really don't know why they don't for everyone though, probably money...there are a ton of school buses...

Ann K

Here's an article on the National Education Association website that explains the pros and cons of seat belts on school buses.

http://www.nea.org/esphome/issues/seatbelt.html

Ann Kucera
Reference Librarian
Baker College
Auburn Hills, MI

The Mr. Pine

Politics and money. It is a very aggressive argument because it would not double tax the individual. This means that you can get a fundraising ticket for no car seat but not direct your tax dollars towards a child's safety. This type of dichotomy causes tempers to flair because certain people look like idiots by taking both sides of the argument for financial reasons as if the other did not exist.

saturn

I do not know if this is right but I was once told it is for quick exit. They say that if all the kids are buckled in and something happens, some might freak and not be able to get seat belt off mainly the younger kids. The bus driver also said that most of the older kids would not wear them, some would hit other kids with the buckle.

KaykayxMichelle

Many reasons...
If the bus caught on fire and there was like little kids on there that would take a while to undo their seat belts,it wouldn't be safe and plus all the other kids would have to take off their seat belts.
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Also some bad kids might like decide to hit other kids with the seat belt or worse strangle another child.
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And Money.

devon

Ours always did when I was in school... They just weren't used.

UniversalGalaxy

cost...and some kids try to strangle others and then the bus driver gets distracted trying to stop them and then........CRASH

Thin King

they do it's just no kid wants to wear a seatbelt when theres 3 to a seat

hazbob43

Some states do have seats belts, for the most part buses in general don't have seat belts.
Here are a few reasons;
Buses are padded to prevent injury in the event of a accident
In the event of a roll over crash the weight of ones body would make it very difficult to unfasten the seat belt. It is the drivers responsibility to evacuate the bus in the event of a crash and it would waste valuable time to unfasten persons who couldn't help them selves. This would come in to play in the event a bus would end up in the water or involved in a fire.
There are many documented cases in the past few years where buses where involved in crashes, even though there where injuries it would have been worst if seat belts had been used.

slap-happy

yes

Robert W

The companies that make these busses se kids as more livestock than passengars. And so do the schools. It's sad, really. That people think that they're above discrimination, but do it to kids all the time.

kevinjohn

because seatbelts on buses does no save you at all on any sorts of accidents. think again.

Red Sox Luver 33

I have wondered the same thing but I think it narrows down to money.Hope this helped!!

random person

$$$
and laziness

Andrew Wiggin

Money

Sal*UK

Cost mainly.

magicgee

Good Question I have wondered this myself.

Good luck getting a bus load of students to buckle up and keep them on without an aide hovering over them the entire route! Most buses (unless they are special needs) don't have aides. The seatbelts become an added distraction when the little ones decide to swing them around or clang them together like cymbals.

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