Should school buses have seatbelts?

truthyness

Yep, they should have seat belts, at least for two people. And, background checks for school bus drivers.

Nikki

YES!!!! That is one thing I would love to see someday....

Richard

I've actaully thought of this! But the reason why is becuz if this was a required item inside a school bus, the driver would have to check every student, and i guess the district don't have time for things like this. If it were to get into an accident with a smaller car, it wouldn't do much damage overall anyways.

--Rich

Kyle M

yes.

Blue Blue Blue

It wouldn't be a bad idea.....
At least in case of accident the kids are more protected.

monie99701

NO NO NO... .

School buses are designed so that if an accident happens they will be pushed forward into the cushioned seat back in front of them.. this is actually more safe than having 50 mph pressure on ones abdomine and whiplash from being held in place... the biggest risk without a seat belt is the 1% chance that the bus will flip .. compared with the 98% of daily injury of having them.

Besides kids play rough and fight with them creating more injury with that hard buckle....

babygurl

i have always wondered the same thing even when i was riding in one as a child, if they enforce cars to buckle up adults and children then for them not to enforce it in school buses is a complete contradiction

Gloria da beautifulest

As crazy as this will sound, it is really a case-by-case basis. Although we cannot backtrack to the accident and say, "Yes, this bus needs seatbelts for when the kids crash today", it depends on the type of accident to say whether the bus should or shouldn't. In a high-speed accident or roll-over, the child would have to be secured. But in a fire, explosion, or water-involving accident, like the bus goes in a river (like on Simon Birch, a great movie), the child needs to act fast, and small children, especially, may panic and have difficulty unbuckling the seatbelt. So...it depends on the scenario.

roger w

yes yah know what if the bus just started flipin and a bunch of kids were in it the school bord would get sued they need to think bout that kinda thing how would they fill

science teacher

School bus seats are made to specifications to protect students.School buses are compartmentalized designed for soft impact. Lap belts could be dangerous for taller students who would bend at the waist and get neck and head injuries. Students fight with seat belt buckles. Special buses for special needs students do need seat belts, and special belts for wheel chairs.

leblongeezer

Adding to some very good answers above, it should be noted that, usually, what hurts and kills on an impact, is not the speed of the vehicle you are in, but what is sometimes called the "second impact". Think of a wooden box nailed to a skate board with a mouse inside speeding at 30 m.p.h. towards a wall. The first impact is when the box-skate hits the wall, that does nothing to the mouse but makes the box stop almost instantly so that, when the mouse hits the inside of the box, it will be traveling at 30 m.p.h. and the box will be at zero. Thus, the mouse feels the second impact only and it happens to be at the total speed of 30 m.p.h.

Next, imagine tying a 10 lb weight to the skate as well and speeding it not againstt a wall, but agains several toys laying on the floor. When it hits the first one, lets say its speed drops from 30 m.p.h. to 25 m.p.h., sending the mouse (possibly you will need a second mouse for this experiment) to a 5 m.p.h. "second impact" against the box's inner wall. Painful, but not deadly. As the skate board hits other toys (or even that wall) and is brought down to a full stop, the mouse will be spread against the wall already and won't crash against it. The bus is like that heavy skate and the toys are like other cars.

Maybe a better solution would be simply to turn the seats backwards and avoid "second impact" altogether. A surprising thing about a very "safety first" country like the US is that school busses don't have a helper. Here in Brazil (or at least in Rio), all school transportation must have an aid to watch over the children so that the driver can concentrate on the road only.

norman7774

Yes, I feel that school buses should have seat belts because the number of school bus accidents.. even though small in number, does warrant more attention in the seat belt area.

Lore

Yes I just wonder how many children Congress may want to see die before anything is done about seat belts on school buses. It's a shame it takes tragedies to get something done. Aren't the children of tomorrow aloowed to grow up without being damaged or killed in a bus accident. Think Congress about this.

Jonas with a Z

Most newer buses do have seat belts, now it's just a matter of enforcing it. How is one bus driver supposed to make sure that 40 screaming kids have their belts on?

openpsychy

Yes definitely. Any body in an automobile which is travelling at speeds greater than 60 km/hour must wear seat belt for safety.

TeeCrochet

Hi Daniel,
I agree with you. I can not understand why they do not. Afterall, the children would go flying all around the bus, out the windows and into each other if an accident would occur.....there is nothing to stop them.

cbmaclean

yes.

jhnedrmr

I have always wondered why the school buses don't have seat belts, they have made it law to buckle up in cars, why wouldn't they want people to buckle up in a bus especially school buses, the way they carry on today about so much child safety this is one thing I don't get.

recklessabandon1433

mainly they dont because most school busses drive on local streets with a speed limit of no more than 30 mph .... and with the size of the busses and speed limits, any car that hit a bus would hardly endanger the children on board .... on the highway school busses usually dont travel over 55mph and stay in the far right hand lane for pretty much the same reason

cranura

I believe that all buses should supply seatbelts, the requirement being if they go on highways or freeways. If only local roads with low speed limits, I don't believe it should be necessary.

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