Bus accident
- Thread starter PrepH4U
- Start date
fromchaptico
New Member
Prayers for all involved...I can hear the sirens. Not a great start to the Thanksgiving vacation 
Baja28
Obama destroyed America
Dayum!
sockgirl77
Well-Known Member
Details are still being added as I'm getting texts. More pics will be up in a few minutes.
fromchaptico
New Member
Does anyone know why it is legal for school buses not to have seat belts? I have always been curious about this. Maybe it is a stupid question, and if so, I apologize in advance.
Hank
my war
sockgirl77
Well-Known Member
Trooper 7 is on its way.
Now it says the driver of the car was just arrested on DUI...So sad for the kids on the bus and other vehicles involved!
FireBrand
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One reason is expense and another reason is that a lot of kids would not wear them.
fromchaptico
New Member
I can see the logic in both of those reasons. Isn't it the law though? Or are public transportation vehicles exempt? I had to ride a Charles County school bus to DC on a field trip last week. The driver hit the brakes hard about once every 5 minutes, and all I could think about was flying through that huge windshield from my spot in the front seat with no seat belt - followed closely by the 50 children behind me!
TPD
the poor dad
You beat Southern Maryland News Net!
AND has pictures up!
TPD
the poor dad
The design of the bus itself makes it one of the safest modes of transportation in the US. Can you imagine if there were seat belts on the bus, and the kids using the buckles to hit other kids, or using the straps to tie kids up. It could end up being chaos aboard. No way would I drive a bus full of middle school kids where seat belts were required....
JoeRider
Federalist Live Forever
Looks like cost to me:
School Bus Seat Belt Background
Cost: On the very first page of the NHTSA Report, the Agency is careful to quote from a June 25, 1998 letter from Congressman James A. Traficant, Jr. admonishing NHTSA to consider the impact on school districts of requiring occupant restraint systems and design and seating capacity changes. While based on recent events the credibility of Mr. Traficant is questionable (at best), NHTSA’s first responsibility is to establish considerations of safety paramount to and above all concerns for the supposed inconvenience of the districts.
NHTSA also argues that the installation of seat belts would cause a 17% loss of seating capacity resulting in substantial additional expenses to school districts. They allege that this is because three restraints cannot be fitted to a 39” seat. As those familiar with school transportation are fully aware, except for children in the earliest grades, no 39” seat can accommodate three students. For NHTSA to assume that all school buses are operating at full capacity with 3 to a seat does not represent reality in school transportation.
Conclusion: Once again NHTSA has failed miserably in addressing the problem of “compromised compartmentalization” in school bus side impact and rollover accidents. As a direct result, children will continue to be killed and injured in school bus accidents. Since NHTSA will not act, the responsibility to correct this well documented inadequacy now resides with the Congress.
JoeRider
Federalist Live Forever
This in interesting:
Then we get into the cost-benefit analysis. At $1,800 a bus, outfitting the 440,000 school buses in the U.S. would cost nearly $800 million--and when the annual death toll is only 11, how much lower can you go, realistically? Given that three times as many fatalities occur when students exit or enter buses, some think the money might be better spent educating the all-too-oblivious public that when the school bus's stop sign swings out, it means you.
The Straight Dope: Why are there no seatbelts on school buses?
Then we get into the cost-benefit analysis. At $1,800 a bus, outfitting the 440,000 school buses in the U.S. would cost nearly $800 million--and when the annual death toll is only 11, how much lower can you go, realistically? Given that three times as many fatalities occur when students exit or enter buses, some think the money might be better spent educating the all-too-oblivious public that when the school bus's stop sign swings out, it means you.
The Straight Dope: Why are there no seatbelts on school buses?
Danzig
Well-Known Member
Danzig
Well-Known Member
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