FEEDBACK


Knee-Jerk Legislation on School Bus Lap/Shoulder Seat Belts Often Misses the Mark


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Te following letter is in response to “Concerns Rise Over Ohio School Bus Lap/ Shoulder Belt Bill,” which was published at stnonline.com/go/bx on June 25.


Te Kansas legislature looked at [seat belt retrofits] last year and I provided input for them. Tere are several considerations based on quotes and Cali- fornia’s experience with [its] law, which has been in force for several years. First, the quote for retrofitting an existing bus is correct, depending on the floor condition of the bus, according to California records. Te cost of outfitting a 71-passenger Type C bus out of the factory with three-point belts is about $10,000. Different seats have to be used, which cost more, and the floor braces are different, which cost more. Tere is additional wiring required [for] a seat belt bus by law. Te assembly line used for a bus like that is different, which costs more. Te bus route for a seat belted bus takes longer, due to making sure the student is buckled. Te California experience shows that additional routes are required to


cover the maximum time students are allowed on a school bus. In the case of a fire on a bus with a lot of K-2 students on it, those students will freeze in spite of training, leaving the driver to have to unbuckle them and direct them out almost individually. Since a school bus becomes totally consumed by a fire in about 4 minutes, seat belts become a definite fire hazard. I have investigated two bus fires and don’t wish that situation on anyone. Last of all, most of the bus accidents investigated by the FTA in the last


several years showed that seat belts would not have mitigated student injuries. In fact, in one case, where the bus had its side caved in, more students would have been killed, due to being trapped in their seats on that part of the bus. With all things taken into consideration, it is better to act based on actual facts, not on the emotions of the moment.


— Frank Clark, Transportation Coordinator Riley County (Kansas) Unified School District 378


8 School Transportation News • AUGUST 2018


CONTRIBUTORS: Linda Bluth, Art Gissendaner, Julie Metea, Eric Woolson, Barb Fasing, Debbie Curtis, James Romeo, Kari Lydersen


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Tim Ammon, TransPar Group of Companies Marshall Casey, Consultant Denny Coughlin, Consultant Ned Einstein, Transportation Alternatives Launi Harden, Washington County (UT) School District Pete Meslin, TransPar Group of Companies Alexandra Robinson, New York City DOE Michael Shields, Salem- Kaiser (OR) Public Schools


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