Safer All the Way Around Written by Debbie Curtis T
he pupil transportation motto for most districts is: Safety First. Re- member when compartmentalization, or keeping students enveloped between the padded seatbacks, was the accepted policy for keeping kids safe during a school bus crash? Seatbelts are now playing a larger
role in accomplishing the industry’s safety goals than ever before. It can be mind boggling to think of a time when seatbelts weren’t even manda-
tory in passenger vehicles. But the controversial history of seatbelts indicates that some of the same arguments presented decades ago in the automobile industry still persist among a few hold-outs in the school bus industry, despite studies that prove the occupant restraints increase safety. The world is moving in the direction of passenger restraint systems as the safest
way to transport children for many reasons. Not only do they help protect students during all types of collisions, but they can improve student behavior and reduce driver distractions. A quieter, well-behaved group of students may even help with driver recruitment and retention. Less bullying means happier children. And student transporters report that seatbelts are freeing up staff time by resulting in fewer parent calls and less disciplinary actions taken. Tom Cohn, the transportation manager for Helena Public Schools in Montana,
asked bus contractor First Student to provide lap/shoulder seatbelts to his district. “School buses are the last vehicles on Earth that aren’t required to have seatbelts,” he noted. “Our job is to keep our kids safe, not follow the old company line of be- lieving that compartmentalization is enough. Compartmentalization works if the kids aren’t leaning into the next seat, if the kids aren’t sitting sideways, and if you just get hit from behind or in front of you.” Cohn pointed out that the younger elementary age children wiggle in their seats
like cats on a hot tin roof. He added that knowing what happens to passengers in a rollover crash, prompted his decision to suspend students who ride without buckling up. Cohn said he believes the IMMI seating systems with 5-points that First Student uses keep the students locked into a safe place. “If you don’t enforce the rule, you’re wasting your time,” he warned. “We use video to back up our driv- ers, and our disciplinary referrals have gone down about 70-percent since having everyone buckled in. For the [kindergarten through second-grade] ages, those referrals have been reduced by 90-percent.” Besides improved behavior, the district has been pleased with the other benefits
seatbelts have provided. “Besides the fact that the children can’t harass each other as much, the bus is much quieter. They can only talk with the person right next to them, which is a huge benefit for our drivers,” Cohn added. “With a quieter bus and students behaving themselves, we’ve seen much less turnover with our drivers.”
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