12 inches from 15 inches to align with NHTSA’s 2008 updated to FMVSS 222. Should the state ever pass a law requiring school bus lap- shoulder belts, Brooks said he would be interested in purchasing Lion buses, which offer an 18-inch aisle. Te Lion Electric Company said it built the industry’s widest bus body at 102 inches to better accommodate lap-shoulder belt usage. Brooks said he would be interested in purchasing a bus with an aisle width of 24 inches, but that would require 39-inch an 30-inch seats and would decrease passenger capacity. Charles Vits, market development manager for IMMI’s
SafeGuard brand, pointed out aisle widths measured from the tops of all school bus seats have decreased regardless if they are equippped with lap-shoulder belts or not. Driver liability also concerns Brooks, he said as the higher seat
backs required by FMVSS 222 make it difficult to tell if students are wearing their lap-shoulder belts properly or at all. “If seat belts become mandatory, then the seat backs should be
lowered, and drivers not held liable for improper use by students,” Brooks said. “Do seat belts improve safety? Of course. But before seat belts, the kids learned to stay seated. It was called discipline.” Brooks keeps a list of infractions and their consequences, the latter including a 30-day suspension of bus rider privileges. If the student
incurs another infraction during the same academic year, they are removed from the bus for the remainder of the school year. “Some have tested that and wound up getting a ride from parents,” he said. New York’s seat belt law dating back to 1987 requires two- point lap seat belts. NHTSA, however, now says lap belts don’t restrain the entire torso against the seat and can lead to abdomi- nal injuries and/or whiplash during a crash. Students can also use them as weapons. Some New York districts have added the three-point variety. “I like to stay ahead of the legislation, as well as have students sitting better so the drivers aren’t distracted,” said Elizabeth Berner, transportation director for the Ithaca City School District. “We’ve definitely seen a decrease in the number of referrals drivers write.” She said three-point belts are easier to buckle, adjust and keep clean than lap belts and they provide additional safety. “It is all part of teaching [students] to be safer on the bus,” Berner said. “Students stay in the seats better, facing forward. Tere are also fewer injuries, since the kids can’t use them as a weapon like [with] lap belts. Recently, a student in a neighboring district was hit in the head with the buckle on a lap belt and needed stitches. Berner also noted that students don’t trip over them or hook them across the aisle, as can be the case with lap belts. ●
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