News BRIEFS STRAPPED IN
In response to the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis- tration call for adoption of three-point seat belts on school buses at November’s NAPT and NASDPTS conferences in Richmond, Vir- ginia, Washoe County School District in Reno, Nevada, has plans to start ordering all new school buses equipped with lap/shoulder belts, according to Diana Hollander, director of pupil transportation for the Nevada Department of Education. Te district joins the likes of Houston ISD, which announced in November that all new school buses would be purchased with the lap/shoulder belts installed. Veteran highway safety expert Bob Bartlett said he hopes the number of states and districts that follow suit will only increase following NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind’s urging. During his 40-year career that spanned time at both NHTSA and the National Transportation Safety Board, Bartlett told STN that he never saw a safer vehicle or an industry more dedicated to leading the way on safety issues than school buses and student transportation.
“I would hope that the industry would continue to be as proac-
tive and that it will continue the previous history of being in front of the safety issue, to head off rulemaking and the government
NHTSA Adminstrator Mark Rosekind made waves at the NAPT Summit in November with his announcement on lap/shoulder belts for all school buses.
saying you have to do this and you have to do that,” he said last month. “(Student transportation) has always done the right thing. Tey found the solutions and worked it out.” Bartlett was a lead investigator for NTSB for the 1989 fatal crash in Alton, Texas between a school bus and a Dr. Pepper delivery truck, and he said the school bus industry worked hand-in-hand with NHTSA to develop the standard for roof hatches to aid in evacuations. Similarly, Bartlett said the industry can and should work with regulators to ensure all school buses are made only safer with seat belts. He pointed out that compartmentalization with high, cushioned seat backs work wonderfully in frontal and rear impacts, but it is incomplete without the inclusion of three-point lap/shoulder belts and four- and five-point harnesses that provide the most protection during a side-impact or rollover collision.
Read more about Houston lap/shoulder belts and NHTSA’s announcement:
www.stnonline.com/go/7p &
www.stnonline.com/go/7q
QUAL IT Y MAT TERS
28 School Transportation News • JANUARY 2016
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