SPECIAL REPORT
Photo taken from video of a school bus crash test at the IMMI Center for Advanced Product Evaluation showing how anthropomorphic test devices fare when restrained in three-point lap/ shoulder belts and unrestrained during a roll over.
‘Great Debate’ Reignited?
Despite increased orders of new school buses with lap/shoulder seatbelts, opposition remains in the name of unintended consequences Written by Carol Brzozowski
A
recent School Transportation News survey about school bus crashes and seatbelt use in- dicates many school districts nationwide are still reluctant to install the occupant restraint
systems. Over one-third of 160 readers responding to the
online survey in November said they have yet to install lap/shoulder seatbelts on their school buses. One likely reason is the already high safety record of school buses. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Ad- ministration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, there were 81 fatal crashes involving school buses in 2021, which accounted for a little over one-tenth of 1 percent of all fatal motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. that year. Only 998 fatal school-bus-related crashes occurred over the decade before that, of those 113 were killed while inside school buses, 61 of which were students. Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters of STN readers
reported that their operations have not experienced a se- rious school bus crash in the past five years. Of those that have, less than 20 percent had serious injuries or fatalities.
20 School Transportation News • FEBRUARY 2024 Still, NHTSA generally advocates for the use of seatbelts,
where affordable, even if it stopped short of requir- ing them in large school buses over a decade ago and leaving the decisions up to states. Other organizations also advocate their use, including the National Associa- tion of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the Nation- al Safety Council, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Coalition for Seatbelts on School Buses, the National PTA, many state PTA associations, the Passenger Safety Association of North America, some school bus driver associations, and local advocacy groups. Additionally, school bus manufacturers report an in-
creased demand for them in new buses. Rudy Breglia, founder of the School Bus Seat Belt
Safety Alliance, noted that cost is often cited as a barrier, leading to resistance from school bus drivers. Instead, Breglia said opponents want to spend their money on new safety equipment/communications/training, as they believe that the low number of student deaths and injuries in crashes doesn’t necessitate the cost of occu-
PHOTO COURTESY OF IMMI.
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