School Buses
@nanette64 (20363)
Fairfield, Texas
November 23, 2016 10:22am CST
Due to the horrific bus accident in Tennessee recently where 5 kids were killed and 12 are still in the hospital, I decided to contact the National Safety Council regarding why seat belts are not mandatory in school buses. I mean if it's mandatory in automobiles and you can get a ticket if you're not wearing a seat belt, why is it not mandatory in buses?
I was then transferred to the US Department of Transportation and then transferred to another department where I spoke to Phillip Weiser. He stated specifically that it is up to the schools and the states to determine whether or not it is monetarily necessary.
It costs between $7,000 and $10,000 per bus to install seat belts on school buses. Some states and school districts do spend the money for the safety of the children. But unless it is a state law, too bad, so sad.
It also doesn't help if drivers being hired are idiots as in the Tennessee case. Fortunately he will be charged with Vehicular Homicide and Speeding but that doesn't help the 5 kids that are dead. Had they had seat belts on, they may have survived.
So if you have children that ride the buses, you may want to contact your school district and demand they spend the money for the seat belts.
7 people like this
6 responses
@Ceerios (4698)
• Goodfellow, Texas
23 Nov 16
@nanette64 - Ms Nanette - Heard on the news yesterday that the HISD here in Houston is going to requie that all new buses they purchase must have installed seat belts. -Gus-
2 people like this
@nanette64 (20363)
• Fairfield, Texas
23 Nov 16
Outstanding @Ceerios . Now if only Dallas would do the same thing. Although I think after all this hooplah, they probably will.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
23 Nov 16
Reading this, I wondered about the buses here in Oregon and found my answer in an Oregon Dept of Education article. Drivers here have ongoing yearly training and that is a good thing. The ways the buses are designed, only lap belts would work and that would still allow the child's head to slam into the seat in front of him/her. They also stated that though 450,000 school buses transport 24 million kids each year, there are, on average ten fatalities per year.
That is little solace to any parent who has lost a child, I know. It sounds like buses need to be redesigned.
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20363)
• Fairfield, Texas
23 Nov 16
In particular with the Dallas School system, the number of red lights run, swerving around cars to run red lights; it's ridiculous @JamesHxstatic . Until it hit the news and 13 drivers were fired and 229 laid off because they were repeat offenders, there were thousands of tickets that were swept under the rug.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
23 Nov 16
@nanette64 Holy crow! That is unbelievable and the cover up was criminal.
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20363)
• Fairfield, Texas
23 Nov 16
@JamesHxstatic You can bet there's a whole lot of investigating going on right now.
1 person likes this
@fluffysue (1482)
• United States
26 Nov 16
I never understood why school buses didn't have seat belts, even as a kid. I really would have thought they would have had them by now. I'm not sure whether seat belts would have helped in this case, due to the nature of the accident, but they might have saved some of the children, if not all. I've heard the case made that supposedly kids would not be able to get out of the bus in an accident if there were seatbelts, but in that case, why should we buckle them up in cars, then? In my state, kids have to be in special restraints in a car until they are just about the size of a small adult, but somehow on a bus they are supposed to be safe sitting on those bench seats unrestrained? 
1 person likes this
@nanette64 (20363)
• Fairfield, Texas
26 Nov 16
Exactly @fluffysue , no common sense.
1 person likes this
@hostessman (11871)
• Tucson, Arizona
23 Nov 16
@nanette64 thanks for that tid-bit I don't know rather Tucson buses have seat belts or not.. will check with my grand daughter
1 person likes this
@blitzfrick (2890)
• United States
23 Nov 16
If lap belts don't help, and indeed do more harm than good, maybe harnesses or shoulder straps could be incorporated into the seats. I think this is a solvable problem. It's the $$$ though that finally determines what gets done. If parents band together to make it happen, who knows? I think if MADD can get results so could a bunch of "concerned" (read "angry") parents have a good chance of getting something done.
