Seat Belts On School Buses

[ImnoMensa]

How much traffic would the bus back up while waiting for a kid to strap up.?

[AndyMarquisLIVE (Premo)]

Originally Posted by desertrat

Seat belts, air bags, fire suppresion and full roll cages.

You mean, a Bus of Tomorrow?

[toppick08 (Premo)]

Originally Posted by AndyMarquisLIVE

You mean, a Bus of Tomorrow?

Oh dear God.....

[sunman1_67]

Originally Posted by toppick08

Oh dear God.....

Jesus Christ you people think too much! It's why we're in the dilemma we're in today. Just stop thinking too much! WTF!

[calamity jane]

Having driven a school bus for many years and conducted countless safety evacuation drills, I can tell you without question that in the event of a serious accident where there is danger of fire the driver will never get all the kids off. Some of them will die because they are wearing seat belts. I hope this state never puts belts in buses. If they do, that's when my kids will stop riding them.
On another topic, Calvert county does not use car seats for very small and young kids. PG county does.

[devilvice]

I have a comment about the bus monitor. You know, back when I was in elementary school, I think it was the 5th graders that had the opportunity to apply to become a bus monitor. The 5th grader would have to fill out an application, have good grades, show maturity, and be selected from the school officials. It doesn't cost money, it prooves the childs responsibility and they help the bus drivers with the younger ones. There were always 2 or 3 assigned to the buses and they got to wear this orange belt and cross over strap. I haven't heard of that in this county though.

[jsouthan]

Aside from pure logistics of getting/keeping all kids buckled, I think the major points being brought up are that:

1. The seat belts themselves may be more of a safety hazard, especially in the event of a fire or rollover accident.
2. They are very expensive to install/retrofit on buses.
3. The maintenance due to knuckle-headed kids destroying them would be tremendous.
4. The seat belts may lead to additional injuries by said knuckle-headed kids using them as weapons in various manners.

According to the study that someone mentioned earlier, of all of the fatalities across the nation (800), only 5% occurred on a school bus. That is only 40. Not that I don't think that every life is precious -- I do. However, asking me to pay millions more dollars in taxes to fund seatbelts on buses where the risk is very, very small of fatality for the 8/10 of a child that is likely to be killed in the state of Maryland this year, is just not worth it at this point. Yes, I know. Everyone wants to say, but if even one child is saved it's worth it, but there is evidence on the other side that even more children may be injured if seat belts are used. If you want to stick with that argument than all of the parents who think they are protecting their kids by driving their kids to school are actually making them less safe, according to the study mentioned, as 25% of the fatalities were caused in cars with their parents.

People have said that California has instituted seatbelts. All I have to say to that is that Maryland is getting bad enough right now, please don't start running us like California!