Inspired by the booster seat thread...School bus question...

[acejka]

So if kids have to be in booster seats until 8 or a certain height/weight in most states, what happens if your kid rides the school bus to school?

When I rode the school bus, there weren't even seat belts, much less booster seats.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

A booster seat is intended to elevate a child so that the shoulder harnes will fit correctly.

For that reason, that is why you cannot use them on airplanes. Boosters have NEVER been intended for use with just a lap belt.

So thus a booster could not be used on a school bus without seat belts, or only lap belts.

Same deal on public transportation and WDW/Mears busses.

 

[labdogs42]

Bus seats are designed to protect kids in a crash. That's why they are as high as they are. They aren't as safe as carseats, but they are designed with children's safety in mind.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

A booster seat is intended to elevate a child so that the shoulder harnes will fit correctly.

For that reason, that is why you cannot use them on airplanes. Boosters have NEVER been intended for use with just a lap belt.

So thus a booster could not be used on a school bus without seat belts, or only lap belts.

Same deal on public transportation and WDW/Mears busses.

^^^ This ^^^

 

[golfgal]

Bus seats are designed to protect kids in a crash. That's why they are as high as they are. They aren't as safe as carseats, but they are designed with children's safety in mind.

Exactly and even though the seats aren't as "safe" as car seats, the buses are. There are many, many, many more kids killed each year in cars, in properly installed and used car seats then have ever been killed in bus accidents-ever. Because of the size and weight of a bus, it takes a LOT to injure/kill passengers in a bus.

 

[freckles and boo]

Bus seats are designed to protect kids in a crash. That's why they are as high as they are. They aren't as safe as carseats, but they are designed with children's safety in mind.

Yep. Seat belts on buses are sometimes hotly debated, but the truth is that a school bus is statistically one of the safest modes of transportation for kids, even without seat belts. The backs are high and padded and designed to keep kids from flying around. The windows are high so that kids are unlikely to be ejected from the vehicle. The bus driver is the most vulnerable person on a school bus.

 

[tzolkin]

My kids' bus has seat belts, but they don't usually use them.

Only the pre-K, kindergarteners, and kids who can't seem to stay in their seats use them regularly.

If the roads are exceptionally snowy/icy the bus driver has them all put them on.

 

[acejka]

Interesting. I never even thought about other forms of mass transportation. Ya learn something new everyday.

 

[almburr]

I think seat belts need to be used on a school bus. Yes they are designed to be bigger and stronger in a crash (side impact, front and rear) but have you seen a bus roll, and all the little kids floppin and flyin around. I cant remember where I read it but I beleive it would cost around $500 to have seat belts put in. I know on ALL of our school buses there are belts they are just shoved down into the seat.

 

[teacherforhi]

I think seat belts need to be used on a school bus. Yes they are designed to be bigger and stronger in a crash (side impact, front and rear) but have you seen a bus roll, and all the little kids floppin and flyin around. I cant remember where I read it but I beleive it would cost around $500 to have seat belts put in. I know on ALL of our school buses there are belts they are just shoved down into the seat.

The elementary bus routes would be need to be twice as long to get everyone buckled in. Even if you had two adults on the bus (which we don't), the bus can't move until the child is sitting. If you're waiting on the belt to be buckled, that takes extra time. Maybe just an extra 30 seconds, but multiply that times 50 children, and that adds over 20 minutes to the route. And honestly, that 30 seconds probably isn't enough time for the majority of children...

 

[JerseyJanice]

Each school bus seat is designed to "compartmentalize" the child seated in it and protect them in case of an accident.

OTOH, seating in a car is engineered for 180 pound men. We install car and booster seats to adapt the seating so that it's safer for small children. Since school buses are already engineered for smaller passengers, you don't need to modify the seating and doing so puts the child at greater risk.

I'm a school transportation coordinator and have arguments all the time with parents who think their kids should be in 5-point car seats. The same rules of physics that apply to passenger cars do not apply to school buses. School buses are engineered and manufactured with different specifications than passenger cars. It's as simple as that.

 

[golfgal]

I think seat belts need to be used on a school bus. Yes they are designed to be bigger and stronger in a crash (side impact, front and rear) but have you seen a bus roll, and all the little kids floppin and flyin around. I cant remember where I read it but I beleive it would cost around $500 to have seat belts put in. I know on ALL of our school buses there are belts they are just shoved down into the seat.

Which is why they don't put them in--the kids won't use them. Again, in theory, nice idea. Have you seen a bus roll? The point is, it just doesn't happen very often.

There was a serious "bus" accident near our old town a couple years ago. I put bus in quotes because the real problem was the woman that hit the bus. The bus was driving down a highway after school and a woman ran a stop sign on a road that met up with the highway. There was a railroad track just before the stop sign. She was going so fast that her car went airborne and hit the bus at window level. She killed the 4 kids that were sitting in the seats where she struck the bus, injured a handful of kids that were in the seats next to where she hit. She knocked the bus over on it's side and while some of the kids got some bumps and scrapes and a few broken arms, they were fine otherwise. There were 60 or so kids on the bus. Seatbelts would have made NO difference in what happened in this crash other then possibly a couple less scratches. This was the deadliest bus accident ever in our state and the design of the bus and lack of seatbelts had no effect on the outcome.

 

[shortbun]

Just imagine trying to get all the elementary kids out of booster seats or seat belts in a real emergency. I drive a school bus and I can tell you that many people would be hurt because evacuation must be quick in an emergency. If you want your child in a restraint and they are kindergarten or above, take them to school yourself. But-you should know they are safer in a school bus.

 

[daughtersrus]

This is from our school district's web site.

Valley View a nationwide leader in school bus safety

When the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration handed down a final ruling Oct. 15 setting new, more stringent safety standards for school buses, it meant many school districts will have to get to work quickly on meeting the new requirements.

Those new regulations require lap and shoulder belts, rather than simple seat belts, in all new buses that weigh 10,000 pounds or less. The NHTSA also recommended that school districts “voluntarily” install seat belts in buses that weigh more than 10,000 pounds. Plus the federal agency required the seat back heights to be 24 inches rather than the standard 20 inches.

But the good news locally is Valley View School District 365U buses already meet, and in some cases exceed, the new regulations. The fact is the district was the first International Corporation bus user in the country to install lap and shoulder belts on both special education and general education buses.

“Maintaining a high level of safety for our students is important to our school board and our administration,” said Derrick Berlin, transportation director for special services for the Valley View district, who spearheaded the designing of the new lap and shoulder belts. “We had one single purpose: making our children safer.”

That means all 113 new Valley View buses put into service in August were equipped with the lap and shoulder belts. An additional 59 new buses will be delivered with the new belts well before the end of the three–year period required by the NHTSA.

“Every single bus will meet the code even though we’re not required to do so on our larger buses,” Berlin said, pointing out that Valley View currently has 88 large–sized buses.

In addition, the seat backs in all Valley View buses currently are 29.5 inches high, far exceeding the new mandate of 24 inches.

“We foresaw the need to do this,” said Berlin, who became a disciple of lap and shoulder belts after attending the National Association for Pupil Transportation Conference a year ago. “With the assistance of Midwest Transit Inc., we went to the International Corporation and got the ball rolling to have them installed.”

Now many other school districts who purchase buses can thank Valley View officials for being so proactive in the area of school bus safety.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Thanks for posting that article, DDsRus.

It's unequivocally in a school bus operator's best interests to keep their passengers safe. Safety is truly the most important issue for any school bus company, and they are keenly aware of that.

 

[ncmickeyluvr]

Just imagine trying to get all the elementary kids out of booster seats or seat belts in a real emergency. I drive a school bus and I can tell you that many people would be hurt because evacuation must be quick in an emergency. If you want your child in a restraint and they are kindergarten or above, take them to school yourself. But-you should know they are safer in a school bus.

I thought this WAS the reason why there aren't seat belts on busses. There's no way that the driver could get all of the children out of the bus safely if they were buckled in. I drive my children to school but it's no a safety issue , it's an extra sleep issue.