School Bus Safety

I have always wondered why we as ordinary citizens are required to have working seat belts ( and use them)in our vechiles but the school systems don't.

I've always said school buses should have seat belts.

I mean you can not even get out a newborn out of the hospital without a carseat. What are these states thinking? Oh yeah their not.

One reason that school buses don't have seat belts in them is that kids cut them out when the bus drivers aren't looking. Another reason is that there are very few bus accidents that are major enough to hurt or kill a child. Most are simple fender benders. Also, it has been proven that the way buses are constructed is still the safest way to transport children to and from school. I know this for a fact. I am a school bus driver.

I think that school buses should have the seat belts, it would be safer. But you correct about the vandalism. You just can't win.

As I always heard it, riding the bus was supposed to be a privilege. If kids violate that privilege by vandalism, then revoke the privilege. Kids can be suspended from riding the bus. Busses SHOULD have seat belts. It doesn't matter if it's rare for an accident like this to happen. It IS possible. Safety of students should be the schools' number one priority.

I've also thought school buses should have seat belts. But I also understand the vandalism issue. It would be almost impossible to know which child cut them unless you check the seat after every time a child left the bus.

that is scary looking. I don't have any kids but I hope my sister takes my neice when she goes to school in 2 years.

It's sad when people don't realize how important life is until something tragic happens. What's even worse is the fact that after the fact, they still don't get it. I agree, we need to question where our tax dollars our going to. I wish that we, as tax payers, would have absolute control of where our money should be going.

I too have wondered often about seat belts on buses. Where is our tax money going? It is not going to protect our children

Think about this. Do you like being stuck behind a school bus on a busy main road during rush hour? Do you or will you have enough patience for the bus driver to park that bus in the middle of the road and check every student to see if they put their seat belt on? At every single stop. Even if every stop on a street is 10 to 100 yards from each other? Also, what is to stop the students from unbuckling themselves as the bus in motion? I agree that bus safety is extremely important, but what you are asking for is a complete redesign of each and every bus at a huge cost, approximately $6,000 per bus. Most school systems don't even have the money to buy all the school books that they need for classrooms, much less to put in seatbelts on the school buses. As I said earlier, there are very few school bus accidents. Out of all the school bus accidents, of which most are only minor fender benders, there are only about 10 deaths per year of students. That is not very many. More children die in cars driven by parents, siblings, or friends.

This tragedy is one that just makes me sad. I can't help but feel for those families and the community as they try to make it through this holiday season. Michelle, hats off for being a bus driver! It has to be a very challenging job. If we were able to get seatbelts in the buses I don't think it should be up to the bus driver to make sure the kids put them on but you raise a couple of valid points. I just think there has to be a better way to safely transport our children and on this particular accident I am concerned about the other vehicle that was involved.

Janet, thank you for posting this article and please keep me in mind if there is ever something I can do (contact a representative etc.) to help the situation. In the meantime, I am going to pray for those families because it has to be so horrific not only this year but on Thanksgiving for many years to come.

Although I agree that there is no reason that school buses should not have seatbelts (although I don't know if all kids would wear them), they should better check who the hire for driver's of these school buses. My husband and I were ran into by a school bus ( which totaled our car) because they couldn't drive in their lane.

The Sherrif or some official mentioned on tv that seat belts would not have changed the outcome of this particular accident. They needed a guardrail there.

I think seatbelts could work. Alot of school systems have started using bus monitors to help with discipline on the busses so that the driver can do just that, drive. If a bus had a monitor then it could be the monitors responsibility to ensure that the students are buckled. Also, assigned seats on the bus would help with knowing which child is causing vandalism. I do, however, understand that this would be a major expense. We have to ask ourselves if the safety of our children is worth the expense?