Why dont school busses have seat belts?

Rapid Fire

Well since this answer has already got me best answer once before I am just going to recycle it.

I drive a 2008 Thomas school bus. As the driver I have a three point seat belt and that is the only seat belt on the bus. On principle I do not agree with that arrangement. I personally believe that all occupants should be belted in. I have been wearing seat belts (without exception) since they were offered on cars.

However, on the practical side, I have to comply with the 'no seat belt' policy for the following reasons.

1 - If I am incapacitated in an accident who is going to unbelt 48 students; and some buses can carry even more students than that!

2 - what driver can stop the bus every 5 minutes and do a complete seat belt check to see if all belts are done up and, indeed, positioned properly. Remember; some buses have a 70 student capacity.

3 - If there is a fire onboard there will be insufficient time to get all the students out of their belts and off the bus.

4 - school bus seats are made of deformable materials and absorb impact very well.

5 - I wear a seat belt primarily to enable me to remain in control of the bus in emergency avoidance maneuvers plus the fact that I have no barriers to prevent me from being thrown through a picture window sized windshield. My students are surrounded by crash padding.

Although my particular bus has seat belt mounting points built in it is highly unlikely that we will see seat belts installed for a very long time. If the taxpayers want to hire two bus monitors to ride every school bus in North America full time I would welcome it. Until then the status quo will have to suffice.

One of our buses was t-boned by a transport a few years ago and put onto it's side. Except for a few bumps and bruises the kids were fine. The bus driver (the only one with a seat belt) was in hospital for 2 months.

narutoxdragon

They can't afford it... and besides it's true the driver can't keep all the kids in a seat belt. Plus, buses don't get in accidents often, so why bother?

kenbgray

They are not required yet.

miatalise12560

but they do have seatbelts.....most school bus drivers do not enforce the wearing of the seat belt (right, how would they do that?) and most do not have a matron to monitor student behavior or enforce the wearing of seat belts.

IAmWhoIAm

I don't know about you but the school I attend uses buses that has seat belts. By the way, the seat belts are in so many colors which is weird.

Mmmm...

Only the magic school bus does.

Ecstasy

I agree.

But I always thought they made the seats bigger so you don't have the chance of falling forward.

Though, without the seatbelt you fall sideways.

Oh, and maybe because they don't know how many kids the bus will hold so they don't bother xP

I think i has something to do with safety. Incase there was ever a fire or like the bus did crash and someone got hurt and couldn't take their seatbelt off.

Idk, this is just my opinion xP

StephenWeinstein

Supposedly, school bus seats are special padded to be safe in a crash.

I am not convinced that this is sufficient.

In any case, even if the school buses had seatbelts, most children would not wear the seat belts, so they would not be any safer than without them. Actually, they would be less safe, because some children put the seat belts in the aisle to make other children trip.

well i doubt theyll feel much if they crash considering theyre in a tank..
plus, even if they have them, 1 bus driver cant keep all 70 kids in the belt..

somerandomdude

Here, all the school busses have belts. They didn't when I was in school, though.

salus

Yes they do in Ireland, its the law since a terrible accident a few years ago.

bungee

your trying to find a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. I have been driving since 1956 and I have seen zero school bus accidents. If your afraid for your child then you take them to school<

Laura

Some school buses have seat belts but some don't. I've only been on like 2 without any seat belts.

Jessica Love

So kids can fly through the air on speed bumps and pot holes

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: