# Seat Belts



## Doxie-Doglover-Too (Jan 25, 2007)

I have always wondered why there are no seatbelts in school buses? the driver is belted in though







. There must be a reason but my stomach turns every time I see a bus full of unrestrained kids and how they will get injured so easily with sudden stops or worse...
Anyone?


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## ROB & JUDY OUTBACKERS (Mar 9, 2007)

We wondered the same thing for years. We have every school bus in Fort Bend I.S.D. with seat belts now for the students. I guess we have had them now for four or five years now. It takes a serious accident sometimes to get peoples attention.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Simple Answer: $$$$









Busses below a certain wheelbase are now required to have seat belts.


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## Scottyfish (Mar 7, 2009)

We can discuss this at the PNW Rally, but the concept is called "compartmentalization" and a Google search will provide a lot more. It has to do will the creation of "compartments" where the children sit. Hence why the seats now are so tall and the rows are so close together. In a crash, the children can only "move" a small distance before coming into contact with the back of the seat in front of them, which is padded. As well, the larger buses sit high off the ground. Therefore, most cars, trucks, and SUV's would not hit the passenger compartment of the bus, but a spot much lower. None the less, school buses are the safest means of vehicle travel in the US.


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## Compulynx (Oct 15, 2008)

My wife drives a school bus. Believe me. There are many more dangers to having belts than not. Because the school systems now have to babysit 4 & 5 year olds and also transport them, there is no way she could cut them all loose if there was a fire in an accident. And believe it or not, they are talking about putting even younger kids on now that would require car seats! That will be her last day on the job if that happens.....

And have you ever tried to keep 80 seat belts working and releasing properly?

Also, if they made them law, she would be responsible that every child was hooked every stop. The dangers would increase many times of an accident with her having to get up and go be sure each child picked up was belted while the bus sits stopped in the middle of a busy highway..

Be careful what you ask for, you just may get it....

C


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Yeah, but there's nothing like the look on a kids face that's just been smacked upside the head by a schoolmate with the business end of a seatbelt!









Like Compulynx said... be careful what you wish for!

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## 3LEES (Feb 18, 2006)

Our school here in Palm Bay, Florida bought 4 new 80 passenger buses last year. They have the high backs, cushioned seats in front of the children, AND seat belts.

I'm not sure of the requirements of the school regarding use of the seats belts. I chaperoned one field trip and I used the belt. However I did notice that most people (children) in the bus did not.

Dan


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## Compulynx (Oct 15, 2008)

Also. I remember an accident in Tallahassee, Fla last year where a concrete truck lost control and turned over on the back of a school bus. One girl was killed, but others in the back saw the truck and got up and ran forward. Do you want to hazard a guess as to what might have been the outcome if they had belts on?

http://www.wtxl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8960633

C


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## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

Well, it goes back to the fact that there was a time when there WERE no seatbelts, car seats, etc. Believe it or not, WE survived!! Back when I rode the school bus (it had a motor, not horse-drawn),
they packed THREE kids to the seat on what was intended for TWO, and kids stood up in the aisle, when there were no seats left. There was no air-conditioning, no nothing. The backs of the seats were METAL, complete with a metal rail on the top of the seat.
Now, don't get me wrong.......NOBODY rides in my vehicle without a seatbelt on, and my kids were put in car seats (or make that one, the other one swung around the car like a monkey and I would have to hire someone to ride with me to keep him in!). But, there was a time that if I HAD a seatbelt on, I would have been killed in an accident.
I agree with Compulynx, too many safety items can result in disaster. I also think that parents should use common sense as to how young that their child can safely ride a bus by themselves.
Darlene


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## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

What they say about the high seat thing is their reason. I have been on a lot of school bus crashes in my years and the bus has won 99% of the time. Even against dump trucks. The drivers have actually had some bad injurys against big stuff but the kids have been fine. I have yet to get a bus on its side or actually do a rollover. That would be a different story. Generally a bus is so high and usually get hit by cars, the cars loose, bad. Spend more time cutting cars from under busses then cutting anyone out of a bus.


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## fourwalls (Sep 21, 2007)

I drove one of those nasty things for 16 years and the explanation I was given was that with the child's behind strapped down the head and neck would be the part of the body that hit the seat in front of them. causing sever injury to those parts was not a good idea. So they are designed to have the whole body take the force instead of the neck and head bending backwards.


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## Scottyfish (Mar 7, 2009)

This incident near our home town prompted a lot of change regarding school bus safety. Granted, I was only 3 at the time, but we heard a lot about it growing up. In fact, I found a copy of the report not too long ago. Very, very sad.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

mountainlady56 said:


> Well, it goes back to the fact that there was a time when there WERE no seatbelts, car seats, etc. Believe it or not, WE survived!! ....


Obviously anyone posting now survived, but not everyone did. I'm still a fan of restraints in any vehicle. Today's bus "compartmentalizing" is an improvement over the older designs, but I'm convinced that safety could be further improved with proper restraints. Look at cars: Airbags may help to cushion you, but the safest thing you can do is buckle up! This is one reason we won't consider motor homes: a lack of proper restraints for the passengers.

Heck, I'll go one step further and state that I would like to see 4 point restraints in all vehicles (I'll draw the line before 5 point so women in dresses will be able to buckle up).


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Nathan said:


> Heck, I'll go one step further and state that I would like to see 4 point restraints in all vehicles (I'll draw the line before 5 point so women in dresses will be able to buckle up).


I'll second that... Especially if we can get rid of the airbags in the process!

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

PDX_Doug said:


> Yeah, but there's nothing like the look on a kids face that's just been smacked upside the head by a schoolmate with the business end of a seatbelt!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sure...the school bully could find many ways to use a seat belt to inflict pain. You know they would get cut and damaged very quickly.


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

PDX_Doug said:


> Heck, I'll go one step further and state that I would like to see 4 point restraints in all vehicles (I'll draw the line before 5 point so women in dresses will be able to buckle up).


I'll second that... Especially if we can get rid of the airbags in the process!

Happy Trails,
Doug
[/quote]
With a properly designed 4 point restraint, you should never reach the front air bag. I like the side impact bags since there isn't much of a crumple zone there.


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## Compulynx (Oct 15, 2008)

Scottyfish said:


> This incident near our home town prompted a lot of change regarding school bus safety. Granted, I was only 3 at the time, but we heard a lot about it growing up. In fact, I found a copy of the report not too long ago. Very, very sad.


From what I read, seat belts would have been useless in that accident. Except maybe to hinder their extraction even more.

C


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