Will Seat Belts in School Buses Keep Our Kids Safer?
Written by Deborah J Thomas
Filed under: Administrators, News, Parents, People Involved, School Safety Issues
The concept of school buses has worked for over a very long period of time. Parents do not have to worry about their kids going to school and coming back home. They need not take their kids to school and pick them up in the afternoon. Yet despite all the advantages that school buses bring, there have been many concerns regarding the safety of children in them. One such concern is the use of seat belts in school buses. This is actually not a new idea. It is merely one that has gone underground for a while and is now resurfacing. What do various sectors have to say about this?
Many parents think that this is long overdue. For them, having seatbelts in the buses will help keep their children safer. In case the driver has to hit the brakes suddenly, the children will be well braced and secure in their seats. That brings to mind potential busted heads and knocked out teeth – which could be prevented by using seat belts.
Some transportation officials tend to agree with these parents. They estimate that around 15,000 fatalities can be avoided each year with the use of seat belts in buses.
However, some school bus drivers have expressed a surprising sentiment regarding the issue. According to Cindy Mobley, a driver for Covington Independent Schools, school buses should not have seat belts in them. She states, “So if I was to have an accident and they had their seat belts on, there is no way for a driver to get them all out safely (without) cutting these seat belts.” She goes on to say that there are other ways to increase school bus safety without having to use seat belts.
One such measure has already been implemented by Covington Independent schools. This concerns the height of the seats. The group increased the seat heights to about 6 inches more than the normal height. The purpose of this is to prevent the children from hurtling forward as they would be protected by the seat. Some sectors tend to agree with this method yet others say that it would not protect children from other sorts of crashes such as rollovers and side impact crashes.
Obviously, at this point, everything is still in a muddle. Perhaps more discussion and studies will shed more light on the best solution. In the meantime, California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York already have seat belt requirements. Texas will follow suit in 2010.
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