Feds to Issue ‘Comprehensive’ NPRM on School Bus Occupant Protection

NHTSA public meeting seeks new technologies, answers to tough questions for improving student safety

Ryan Gray | Senior Editor

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A comprehensive Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that could come as early as this fall from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was about the only sure thing at the end of a dizzying, muggy day in the nation’s capital, one that saw passionate debate over the future of school bus occupant safety.

NHTSA Administrator Nicole Nason, who called the July 11 “Seat Belts on School Buses Public Meeting,” said the varied testimony gave her “conflicting information” as some asked the federal government to take an active role in the school bus occupant safety issue, while others seemed to say “the feds need to back off, and the school districts know best.”

“I do not know what’s going to be in the NPRM at this point,” concluded Nason, a mother of a first-grader who rides the school bus in nearby Arlington County, Va.

Lap-shoulder belts and high seat backs – regardless of how feasible, or not – were two seasoned possibilities raised during event. The U.S. Department of Transportation told attendees at this so-called “seat belt summit” that it is committed to investigating how today’s technologies, not just that of seat belts but other safety measures designed for occupant protection, can help make school buses even safer than they already are.

But it also recognized there are many big questions to be answered and challenges to be met before any updated federal motor vehicle safety standards for occupant protection could be issued.

Among the concerns communicated over lap/shoulder belt issue, school bus panelists cited student misuse of the restraints, the problem of equipping buses with systems capable of properly securing students of all ages and sizes, reduced passenger capacity and the resulting risks of increased purchase and operational costs.

In recent years, months even, the National Association of Pupil Transportation, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation and the Academy of American Pediatrics have called on NHTSA to update its rule on school bus compartmentalization and to clear up “conflicting messages” from its crash test studies conducted over the past 25 years.

“Our members say consistently, ‘We need guidance from the federal government,’” said Mike Martin, the executive director for NAPT. “They’ve dedicated their lives and careers to this.”

Three-point seat belt restraints on school buses remained a foregone conclusion for some in the industry, and a much-feared mandate to others. Might school bus air bags be in the cards as well?

The Alternatives
While discussions about air bags are likely a premature, not to mention costly, alternative, the pending NPRM was spoken of in general terms, as it would likely address the topic of lap-shoulder belts as one possibility to improve school bus compartmentalization. But before any federal guidance could be issued on the occupant restraint systems, Nason said a cost-benefit analysis is needed.

In addition to investigating a possible rule on 24-inch, high-back bench seats that would better compartmentalize students during a frontal collision, another leading candidate for inclusion in the NPRM, discussion among attendees also focused on the applicability of other safety upgrades allowed by current technology, namely that of side-impact curtains and passenger air bags.

“Quite bluntly, compartmentalization is an antiquated technology,” said Dr. Phyllis Agran, author of a report in the journal “Pediatrics” last fall that raised questions on the real-world number of school bus injuries. “I implore you to face the challenge and explore the opportunities.”

Suzanne Tylko, the chief of crashworthiness research and the acting director of Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Regulation at Transport Canada, said sled tests show neither compartmentalization nor lap-shoulder belts are as effective in side impact collisions. It is also necessary, she added, to improve the side structure of the school bus via such technology as energy-absorbing side curtains. Displaced metal at these collision points, while seldom fatal to passengers can be “disfiguring” to students who survive these types of crashes.

Nason added that a ruling on side-impact curtains would first be necessary for cars before they could be applied to school buses.

The true reason for the meeting was for the feds to gather as much information as possible from states and local municipalities that have experience using seat belts on school buses, such as what works and what doesn’t.

“We’d love to know the challenges and cost concerns,” Nason added. “(And) will kids use them?”

Her wish for in depth information was granted, and then some.

Pros vs. Cons
While agreeing that the yellow school bus is the nation’s safest mode of mass transit when viewed by fatality rates, several DOT speakers pointed out that student injuries suffered during crashes involving school buses are often overlooked. Among them, National Transportation Safety Board Member Deborah Hersman agreed that compartmentalization is significantly reduced in side impact crashes as well as during rollovers, which can lead to student ejections. But, she also acknowledged how difficult it can be to design restraint systems that work for all ages and sizes of students.

As for experience using school bus seat belts, several pupil transportation representatives gave testimony on the pros and cons.

California currently has 1,900 school buses equipped with lap-shoulder belts since implementing a law for the restraints in July 2005. John Green, the state director of pupil transportation, said training is essential to the success of any lap/shoulder belt implementation on school buses, part of the California mandate. He said the state, which has yet to experience a catastrophic crash on any new bus equipped with the 3-point systems, has seen a documented improvement in child behavior, and maintenance of the seat belts “has not been an issue.” But with no additional funding from the state assembly, the burden of paying increased bus costs falls on school district shoulders. He also pointed to concerns about reduced capacity and the 24-inch high seat backs impairing driver ability to see all students in the rearview mirror.

Linda Farbry, the director of transportation at Fairfax County Schools about 15 miles southwest of D.C., agreed.

“The seat back is so high, drivers can’t see even the larger students,” she said. “When you’re dealing with special needs students that can really be a problem.”

Charlie Hood, the pupil transportation director for Florida, where 2-point lap belts are used, said requiring student use of the restraints is problematic, as “there are no flight attendants running up and down the bus aisles.” Plus, there is a reduction in passenger capacity based on the seating numbers.

Meanwhile, Robin Leeds of the National School Transportation Association, who was “very uncomfortable” talking about the related costs rather than the safety issues, painstakingly pointed out how rising operating costs associated with lap/shoulder belts affect private operators. Many contracts with school districts include provisions that prohibit price increases or renegotiations until the term is up. She said the end result is an overall decreased student safety, as many school districts are forced to reduce the number of activity trips, increase walking distances to school, rely more on public transit, charge parents for school bus service, and eliminate service altogether.

“Accusations are false that NSTA is only concerned about cost,” she said. “Still, NHTSA asked NSTA to address this.”

Dr. Agran, the representative from the American Academy of Pediatrics asked why increased costs tied to medical care of student injuries and liability costs weren’t included in the discussion.

”Those also need to be evaluated,” she said.

During open comments from the floor, a local pupil transporter himself questioned why the topic of emergency evacuations was also absent from the agenda. John Matthews, the transportation director for the 1,250-bus operation at Montgomery County Schools in Maryland, said such training should be mandatory because lap-/shoulder belts complicate students’ abilities to leave the bus in the event of a fire – and the ability of drivers to assist them. He also championed what he coined “passive restraint modification” rather than jumping on the seat belt bandwagon.

“Look outside the box,” he added. “I believe if we’re really creative that we could put the idea to use while maintaining the same capacity.”