AS PUBLISHED IN THE CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: May 11, 1995

Comments on the floor of the United States Senate by Mike DeWine, a United States Senator

Mr. DeWINE: Mr. President, a few weeks ago on this Senate floor I discussed the problem of school bus safety. In February of this year a young girl by the name of Brandie Browder, an eighth grader in Beaver Creek, Ohio, was killed when the drawstring around the waist of her coat got caught in the handrail of her school bus.

Just 4 days later, in Cincinnati, a seventh grader suffered a broken foot in a very similar accident.

As I pointed out when I spoke previously about this matter, while school buses are certainly among the very safest modes of transportation, the sad fact remains that an average of 30 schoolchildren are killed every single year in America either getting off or getting back on their own school buses--30 children.

Each child, Mr. President, with parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters, and because of that child's death their life will never be the same; 30 children who will never have the opportunity to grow up, 30 children who will never have the opportunity to live out their potential. The sad fact is, Mr. President, that almost without exception these are preventable deaths.

When I last spoke on this issue, I discussed three specific safety issues, three problems that cause these deaths. One was a handrail problem. The second was the problem of the child getting on and off the bus and how we can make that area safer so the school bus driver will know what is going on in that area. And finally, I talked about the possibility of better training for school bus drivers.

Today, I would like to concentrate on the issue of handrails on these school buses because between the time that I last spoke to the Senate about this issue myself and my staff have spent a great deal of time looking at this issue and finding out additional facts. And the sad fact is that we lose many children because of this handrail problem.

This is a problem, Members of the Senate, that can be corrected very easily for less than $20 per school bus. So it is not something that is going to cost a great deal of money. It is something though that will not be fixed unless parents, teachers, administrators, and members of the public demand that this problem be fixed in each school bus in the country.

As I previously mentioned, an alarming number of these accidents are occurring when a strap from a backpack on a child or the drawstring of a little girl's or little boy's coat gets snagged in the handrail while that child is exiting the bus. We all know I think from our own experience from our own children how many kids today have backpacks or have a poncho or something that has a string that can in fact get caught as that child is getting off the bus.

Mr. President, with many of these handrails there is a small space between the handrail and the wall of the bus where something like the drawstring around the waist of a coat can get snagged. The child is getting off the bus. The child begins to get off that bus but the child's clothing is stuck and is still attached when the bus driver mistakenly begins to pull away thinking the child has exited the school bus. As I pointed out, a number of children have been killed in this exact manner since 1991.

Let me give a little background on the analysis of this problem. Beginning in early 1993, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA] initiated a series of investigations to find out if the handrails on school buses were actually designed in an unsafe manner. As a result of these investigations, nine distinct models of school buses were recalled because of potentially unsafe handrails. However, tens of thousands of these unsafe buses were not recalled. They are still on the road. The bus that killed little Brandie was not recalled, not because the bus was safe--just the contrary--but it was not recalled because the company that made the bus had already gone out of business.

Mr. President, we clearly must track down these buses. We must make sure that every single bus in this country is inspected. We have to fix them or get them off the road.

Let me again repeat. We are not talking about a very expensive repair. It is not a cost question. It is a question of locating the buses. It is a question of public awareness, which is why I am on the floor today.

We as parents need to make sure our children are not getting on an unsafe bus this afternoon, tomorrow morning, or ever. We can all look for ourselves. When our child gets on the bus tomorrow morning, or gets off the bus this afternoon, look at the handrail to see if that gap does in fact exist. We must not rest until every one of these buses is identified and fixed.

Let me advise my colleagues what we are doing in the State of Ohio with regard to this. I had the opportunity this morning to talk to highway patrol officials who are in charge in the State of Ohio of school bus inspections.

As I have indicated, there really is a simple solution to this particular handrail problem. Every year the Ohio State Highway Patrol during the summer months when school is not in session conduct inspections of every single school bus in the State of Ohio. I suspect that there are other law enforcement agencies that perform the same function in all the other States of the Union as well.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol, when they begin these inspections in the next several weeks, are going to in addition to what they normally do look for this specific problem. When they find the problem, if they do, they are going to take the bus off the road until the problem is corrected because as I indicated it is a very relatively simple problem to solve at a cost of probably no more than $20.

They use an inspection device, a tool. If I describe it, I think it will give our listeners and Members of the Senate a good idea how simple it is. It is a tool made with a long string with a nut attached to the end. From outside the school bus door, you drop the nut end of the device into the crevice where [[Page S6486]] with the lower end of the handrail is attached to the lower area of the stepped wall. When you pull the device toward the outside of the school bus through the crevice, if the tool gets caught the bus is rejected and then not allowed onto the road until this is fixed.

As I point out, fixing these buses is relatively easy. For around $20 you can put a safe new handrail on the bus, a whole new handrail, or for even less money than that you can modify the handrail by inserting a special wood or rubber spacer between the bottom attachment point of the handrail and the bus wall itself. The process is cheap, simple and will save lives.

Mr. President, I urge that all States that are not currently following this inspection policy and are not looking for this problem start doing this as soon as possible. Ohio certainly does not have a monopoly on these potentially unsafe buses. These unsafe buses can probably and I am sure can be found in any State in the Union.

Mr. President, this week just happens to be National Safe Kids Week. There is no better time than the present during this week to focus our attention on the real dangers to schoolchildren who travel by schoolbus.

The goals of National Safe Kids Week are fourfold, but they are quite simple.

First, raise awareness of the problem of childhood injuries.

Second, build grassroots coalitions to implement prevention strategies.

Third, stimulate changes in behavior and products to reduce the occurrence of injuries.

Fourth, make childhood injuries a public policy priority.

Mr. President, these four goals should set our agenda for safety for children and specifically should set our agenda for school bus safety. I will in the weeks ahead again return to the floor to revisit this entire issue, but at this time I think it is important that we get about the business of dealing with this handrail problem.

In conclusion, I should like to alert my colleagues and other concerned Americans to an important satellite feed about this issue of school bus safety. Later today and tomorrow, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will be showing a TV program on this very issue. This program will be available by satellite, and I would urge those who are interested in this vital issue to contact NHTSA about the details.

Again, Mr. President, I thank all the concerned parents and the educators and others who are contributing to the success of National Safe Kids Week. To them I simply say thank you, thank you for caring, and, believe me, you are in fact making a difference.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.