NATIONAL COALITION OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY NEWS UP TO DEC. 2003

"SAME OLD STUFF"

At Your Service: School Bus Seatbelts
September 8, 2003

Mike Gruhlke of Idaho Falls asks, "Why is it that seat belts in automobiles is a requirement in every state in this union, but we bus our kids back and forth without any?"

Actually there are seatbelts on some buses...including Becky Talamantez's:  "The seatbelts on the bus are for the preschool children which are 3, 4, and 5 years old."

But these restraints aren't intended for safety.  "They are on there to keep them in their seats," Talamantez explains, "so they don't go out and wander around on the bus while you're driving."

"A school bus is the safest mode of transportation in the United States right now," says Brad Jensen, supervisor of transportation for Idaho Falls School District #91.

A U.S. Department of Transportation study supports that claim.  It found there are .2 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles for school buses, more than six times lower than for passenger cars or light trucks and vans.

Jensen attributes that to bus construction:  "Each seat has got padding around and dense padding to where it is a crash barrier."

But because any injuries are too many, the Department of Transportation is constantly considering safety improvements including side wall padding, armrests, lap bars and seatbelts.

But for now, many on the front lines don't think seatbelts would work.  "I just don't see (kids) keeping them on," Talamantez says.  "It would be hard for a bus driver to monitor that and some kids might even take them and use them as weapons on other kids."

"You would have a monitor for the bus and that would be approximately $14,000 a year to have a monitor on each bus," Jensen explains.  Multiply that times the district's 36 buses and that would add a very large cost to a district that just laid off more than a dozen drivers to cut expenses. 

Gruhlke also asked about bus overcrowding.  Federal and state regulations require no more than three students to a seat.  Many, including Talamantez, thinks that's too many for junior and high school-sized students, but regardless of that, Jensen says it is the number deemed safe by the government and if a bus has more than that they'll call in another one.

By Philip Jensen, Idaho Falls

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