26 School Transportation News Magazine September 2011
Boost Kids in Cars, Not on Buses Why the booster stage, essential in passenger cars, is not recommended on school buses
By Denise Donaldson and Betty Mason, Special to SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION NEWS When the final components
of the 2008 rulemaking “Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Seating Systems, Occupant Crash Protection, Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages, School Bus Passen- ger Seating and Crash Protection” take effect on Oct. 21, 2011, new buses of 10,000 pounds gross
vehicle weight or less will be required to be equipped with lap-shoulder belts,
rather than
lap-only belts, in all positions. As more buses become equipped with these
features
similar to passenger cars, people familiar with the general stages of child passenger safety may be
surprised to learn that it is not a best practice to use a booster seat on a school bus. Te chapter on booster seats was removed in 2008 from the NHTSA-approved, eight-hour “Child Passenger Safety on School Buses” training. Makers of bus seating with lap- shoulder belts
(Safeguard, C.E.
White and M2K) also advise that boost- er seats should not be used on school buses, even when a lap-shoulder belt is available and the child would normally ride in a booster in the family vehicle. Some parents may expect their school
transportation providers to explain why there is a difference. Te reason is that passenger vehicles’ seats are primarily made to fit an adult, whereas school bus seats are made for children. So, though a booster is necessary in a passenger car until the child can fit the adult-sized seat, on a school bus the child does not need this stage. School bus shoulder belts are adjustable to fit shorter children, and the seat depth dimension is also much smaller. Essentially, the bus seat is pre- scaled to suit a child’s dimensions and so it should align properly without needing help from a booster. Interestingly enough, NHTSA released
a report last summer analyzing state and national data and found that earlier use of child safety restraints for 3- and 4-year-old children in passenger vehicles resulted in less risk of injury than when using booster seats. It found that the CSRSs could reduce non-disabling inju- ries all the way to fatalities by as much as 27 percent for 3- and 4-year-old children compared to when booster seats were used. Forward-facing CSRSs are recom- mended for 1- to 4-year-olds, or until they reach 40 pounds. Booster seats are then recommended for passenger vehi- cles to elevate children 4 to 8 years of age so that lap-shoulder belts provide a bet- ter fit. Shoulder straps that ride too high may limit the ability to contain the child in the seat and may result in discomfort, while lap belts positioned too high may fail to engage the pelvis and could result in internal injury. In school buses, nonetheless, even with
the seat belt adjusted, very young riders may still be too small to fit the lap-shoul- der belts. Tis is a sign that the child is so small that a child safety restraint system (CSRS) with a harness, not a booster, is needed. A good way to determine if the lap-shoulder belt fits well is to have the child sit on the seat and take the follow- ing “Five-Step Test”:
1. Does the child sit all the way back
against the bus seatback? 2. When seated as described in Step 1,
do the child’s knees bend comfortably at the edge of the bus seat cushion? 3. Does the shoulder belt cross the
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