Karen Wetherald, transportation manager for Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation in Indiana, said all her drivers need to experience lap-shoulder belts.
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its entirety via onboard video. Watching the collision and aftermath is not for the faint of heart. Tat crash along with a similar incident in Chesterfield, New Jersey in February of that year helped solidify federal resolve to call for school bus lap-shoulder belts. St. Lucie County Schools voluntarily upgraded from lap belts several years ago, and
currently has 75 of its 309 route buses equipped with the three-point systems. Aside from personal experience proving to him that three-point seat belts make the school buses safer, Carter said the biggest advantage his drivers report is the effect on behavior. Te district is currently implementing an electronic bus referral system like one used
by teachers in the classroom, so he said he has yet to see real data on how much the seat belts have reduced on-board issues. But Carter added that drivers are seeing that the lap-shoulder belt systems ensure students’ backs remain against the seat, which in turn keeps them seated and facing forward. “Te drivers I’ve talked to, they’ve said they feel they do help,” he added. In response to the argument that students can use seat belts as weapons, Carter said the two-point lap belts are what “can do some damage,” but lap-shoulder belts retract fully into the seat back. Also, he explained that lap belts can be thrown over the back of seats when not in use and would “get kinked,” resulting in maintenance issues. In North Carolina, Carter’s native state before moving to St. Lucie County 12 years
ago, several districts have also adopted lap-shoulder belts despite no state mandate to do so. Person County Schools located about 60 miles north of Raleigh recently received sev- en new regular-education school buses equipped with the occupant restraints. Six weeks into the new school year, director of transportation Carol Bowes called each bus driver to gauge their experiences.
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“I asked them if getting the students buckled in was a problem,” she told STN last month. “Tey all said that during the first week of school they had held a lesson on how to buckle and adjust your seat belt. Tey assigned fifth graders to help the little ones. By the second week, each child on the bus could buckle themselves in.” As to their effect on student discipline, Bowes said each driver was pinching herself at the difference. “To a woman they all said discipline had become a dream,” Bowes re- layed. “Tey no longer had to watch for students moving from seat to seat. Te students did not sit on their knees or turn around to speak with others around them. Te hitting across the aisle had stopped because the seat belt held the torso in and a child simply could not hit another student across the aisle.” Noise also has dropped considerably, she said, and the three-point belts have reduced bullying incidents. Across the state, Carteret County Schools near Cape Hatteras has 11 of its 99 school buses with lap-shoulder belts and is seeing similar results. Director of
50 School Transportation News • NOVEMBER 2017
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