Seat belts in school buses... - What do you think?

Crystalina wrote: I just saw where "they" were going to try to get seat belts in buses...again. Their reason for not having belts now is because of the cost, they would have to buy more buses because right now 3 kids can fit in a seat but if they add belts only 2 kids would fit. I think that is a ridiculous reason for not adding them. I keep remembering the video footage of a bus here in Ohio that flipped on its side and the camera caught the kids flying through the air and landing on one side of the bus. Thank goodness it wasn't a bus full of smaller kids. I can understand if there were an emergency and it would be difficult for the driver to help disoriented kids to undo their belts but I'm sure with our technology a quick release or even a master release (where the driver can release all the belts by pushing a button up front) can be installed. I think it's crazy that they don't have belts on buses. Statistics show that 17,000 kids go to the hospital in this country every school year because bus related injurys due to not having safety belts.

cameragirl21 replied: i definitely think there should be seat belts in buses and don't see any viable reason or excuse not to have them to this day.
my godson's mom was in a schoolbus accident as a little girl...some of the kids in the bus flew right thru the windshield.
she hit her head really hard and got a huge financial settlement that her parents proceeded to spend. to this day she has horrible headaches as a result of that crash, all of which could have been avoided if there were seat belts in the bus.

mom2my2cuties replied: I would definately be more apt to let my kids ride the school bus if they had seatbelts. People drive like morons around here.

boyohboyohboy replied: this is the main reason my son will never ride the school bus, and that includes for special events....or field trips. i always attend to drive him or his friends.
i think its just crazy. how can they make laws for kids as old as 8 to sit in booster and then send these little tiny kindergarden kids on the school bus with no safety measures, and most times these little kids sit in the front and are just as likely to go thru the windsheild in a crash.
i hope that someday this is the legislation i can be a part of to help change....
this is one topic i have always been ready to take on.

Crystalina replied: It just amazes me how they claim finances is the reason it hasn't been done yet every school bus I've seen has a camera. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the cameras also but If they can afford one then why not another? I will gladly pay extra wherever I have to for more buses if that's what it takes.

My2Beauties replied: Yes absolutely they need seat belts on school buses. I remember as a kid we would sit in the back right on the wheel and wait for a bump in the road we would jump up and down in our seats on our butts and when we'd hit a bump we'd go flying up in the air - of course as kids we loved doing it, but now OMG that is so dangerous I can't believe our busdriver let us get away with it This is the main reason I never want Hanna taking the school bus. I probably won't have a choice unless I don't work though

BabyOwen427 replied: My dh installed a seat belt in the back of his classic mustang so we could fit the carseat for ds. He took the seat out and bolted it to the mainframe of the car. I have ridden in school busses, you can see the bolts the seats are screwed into the bus with... why can't belts be bolted right next to them? It probably wouldn't take a couple of guys a week or so to do a fleet of busses (I'm talking small town). It's much safer to have two kids to a seat than three anyways, they should never put three to a seat in the first place.
I am glad we live close enought for my kids to walk to school. But that brings up another dilema... to walk or not to walk... that is not the question...

Crystalina replied: Izabella does ride the bus in the afternoon. In the morning I take her because if not then she has to be up an hour earlier and she would be on the bus for 45 minutes before she even got to school . The driver does everything in reverse on the way home so she is only on one country road and she's only on the bus for about 15 minutes so I feel a little safer knowing that.



I don't think it's the issue of actually installing the belts but more about if they only put 2 to a seat then they would have to buy more buses to make up for all the kids who would no longer be able to ride. In bigger schools that would more then likely be a heck of a lot of school buses that would need to be purchased but I think that if they make sure the shcool is safe, the food is safe, they have fire, tornado or any other disaster training then they should also go the extra mile and make sure the kids are safe on the bus. I can't believe this is 2006 and they still have not done that.

stella6979 replied:
Unfortunately I live too close to Detroit, so my kids will NEVER be walking to school. Of course, things can happen anywhere so where I live really isn't relevant. I think it depends on age and they should ALWAYS walk in groups, and I don't mean 2 people, I mean groups.

stella6979 replied:
It makes no sense to me. Here in Michigan they have a very strict seatbelt law and yet the buses don't have them. Technically, doesn't that mean that "they" are breaking the law? I just don't get it.

gr33n3y3z replied: all of our buses here have them

Simplebeliever replied: When I was a teenager, a quick North Eastern snow storm hit the area during school hours (schools were open and unprepared for the storm that day). All the schools let the kids out early, but the whole bus system was in a rush since we use the same buses for high school, junior high, and the elementary schools (different schools use the buses at different times). There was no way that all the kids could make it home before the storm.

I remember the bus I was on skidded off the road and ended up in a field. We were all very lucky, no one was seriously injuried. I'm sure a lot of the injuries could have been avoided completely if school buses had some sort of secure place to store back packs and seat belts to keep the passengers in place.

It's never made sense to me that school buses don't have seat belts. I hope it becomes a requirement. So many tragic accidents and injuries could have been prevented.

Boo&BugsMom replied: I've always thought it was strange and completely idiotic that buses didn't have seat belts...school buses AND public ones. You'd think with all the safety concerns that would have been a law a long time ago. Doesn't make sense to me. I'm all for them!

mom2my2cuties replied: You know what gets me about this?

MOST Kindergartners are still in booster seats. And yet there are ABSOLUTELY no requirements for thier safety when it comes to the school bus, but heaven forbid a parent is transporting them with out a booster seat.

luvbug00 replied: Well Mya will NEVER be riding a bus. ( not for the seatbelt reason either) but anyway I personaly think it would be nice to have them in all buses, ( we have them in some) but if you have a bus full of 5 year olds and the bus catches on fire you gonna have a bunch of fried children because they WILL panic and forget to unlock themselves. Now i'd be differant if they could afford 3 chaperones ( one in each section frount middle and back to assist) but since school systems are too darn cheap that is never gonna happen. so my final answer is yes and no.

MoonMama replied: I think they should absolutely have them! I think it shouldn't even be something we have to think about. IMOH anyway.

hawkshoe replied: I had once heard that one of the reasons they don't is because kids use them as weapons. No joke, kids hit each other with them. After seeing the videos of school bus bullying, I can see where this could definately be a problem.

Crystalina replied:

See, this is where the adults need to step in. I believe in that whole saying, "It takes a villiage to raise a child", and that is how Izabella's school thinks. The entire school (except the teachers and administration) is all volunteer work. Parents are the crossing guards, the cooks, the Librarian, the chaperones for field trips and watch the kids on the playground. It's great. Unfortunately I have not been able to help out yet because I always have Evan but I do bring in snacks and do things that don't require me being there. When Evan goes there I will participate more. People just come from the entire community to help and our school is the only school in the area that does not need Levys passed or money for this or that. I know it's harder in bigger towns but I think parents should volunteer to help on buses but then there is alway the argument of there not being enough room on the buses for the chaperones.

MotherForever2043 replied: If cars have seat belts, then busses should DEFINETLY have seat belts. They are way bigger and more dangerous. They need to realize that a child's life is way more important then the money they are going to spend on the seat belts. My daughter Amber's bus has seatbelts but most of the children don't even wear them. But I always make sure that Amber does!!! I hope they realize what's at risk when they don't place seat belts on school busses.

msoulz replied:
That is an excellent point. Why ARE school busses exempt from these laws? I too live in Michigan where the laws are quite specific. How bizarre!