After reading the heartbreaking news story of the bus crash in Carroll County, I have one question: Why don’t we mandate seat belts on school buses?
The student who died was ejected from the bus, which could have been prevented had the teen been wearing a seat belt.You can read the argument for seat belts here at the National Coalition for School Bus Safety.
Among the organization’s points:
Seat Belts would cost most districts about $1.50 a child per year or less than a penny a day for this added protection.
Opponents ignore the fact that by not providing seat belts, a school district is demonstrating a form of NEGATIVE EDUCATION. This negative training carries over to the family car, leaving children defenseless against their number one killer, the automobile collision. Our teens are killed in drastic numbers each year because they haven’t learned the importance of wearing a seat belt.
Opponents state that “compartmentalization” (protection between high-back padded seats) provides sufficient protection, yet they ignore the effects of rear-end, lateral and rollover collisions. During a crash, children become human missiles as they are thrown from their seats, into one another or into aisles, blocking quick evacuation.
Opponents suggest that seat belts are more trouble then they’re worth and that children won’t wear them. Wearing seat belts twice a day, 180 days a year will make wearing seat belts a routine and not an ordeal. Over 200 school districts across the nation have adopted seat belts as an added safety feature and report usage rates from 80% to 100%. Districts must encourage, if not demand their usage and support must come from parents, administrators and school bus drivers.
I can offer one more reason to mandate seat belts here in Georgia. It is possible that James Rashawn Walker would be alive today if he were belted in that bus.
California and Texas – starting this year — are the only states requiring lap-shoulder belts on new school buses. New York, New Jersey and Florida require lap belts on new buses.
According to the AJC story:
James Rashawn Walker was among 14 students who were riding in a school bus from Temple High School to a nearby vocational school when the bus overturned.
More than a dozen were rushed to various hospitals, and James was the only fatality, police said.
At about 1:40 p.m. on Monday, the school bus in which he was riding went off the road, into a ditch and overturned.
The bus had no obvious mechanical problems, and the driver was not suspected of using alcohol or drugs, said Georgia State Patrol. Sgt. Justin Howard. He said the driver, Kenneth Ross Herringdine, 59, of Roopville, was a trainee with a valid commercial drivers license and that another experienced driver was on board teaching him.
It’s unclear why the bus went off the right side of the road, across a driveway, into a culvert and then into a ditch, Howard said. He said James was “partially ejected” from the bus, and was caught under it when it rolled.
If you are just reading this Tuesday morning, please take a look at some of the comments already up from late last night, especially those explaining that school systems routinely squeeze three students in bus seats meant for two; mandating seat belts would end that money-saving practice. (I say good riddance. It makes no sense for parents to carefully buckle their 6-year-olds and then turn them over to school buses where they bounce around like ping pong balls. )
And as for money, one poster raised this issue, which I think is worth pulling out and putting here for your comments:
I’ve got a good idea that no one has mentioned yet:
ENOUGH WITH SCHOOL BUSES.
They are taxpayer-funded money sucks that clog up the streets. Get your own damn kids to school. Stop expecting the government to do everything for you.
(Maureen, a good topic for discussion would be the insane amount of money buses consume. To make it even more controversial, you could focus on the SPED buses, which consume an ENORMOUS amount of resources but only carry a few kids a piece.)