January 17, 1996

Mr. Bill Paul
School Transportation News
P.O. Box 789
Redondo Beach, CA 90277

Dear Mr. Paul:

Thank you for inquiring about seat belts in school buses and the use of 15-passenger vans as school buses. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is responsible for establishing Federal motor vehicle safety standards to reduce the number of fatalities and injuries from motor vehicle crashes, including those involving school buses. We also work with the states on school bus safety and occupant protection programs. School bus safety is one of our highest priorities.

School bus transportation is one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States. We require all new school buses to meet safety requirements over and above those applying to all other passenger vehicles. These include requirements for improved emergency exits, roof structure, seating and fuel systems, and bus body joint integrity. These requirements help ensure that school bus passengers are extremely safe.

Every year, approximately 394,000 public school buses travel approximately 4.3 billion miles to transport 23.5 million children to and from school and school-related activities. Since 1984, on the average, 11 passengers per year have died in school bus crashes. While each of these fatalities is tragic, it should be noted that the numbers of fatalities among school bus occupants are small when compared to those in other types of motor vehicles. For example, in 1994, no occupants of a school-bus-body-type vehicle died in a crash. During the same year, 5,725 children between the ages of 5 and 18 died as passengers or drivers in all other types of motor vehicles.

School bus crash data show that a Federal requirement for seat belts in buses would provide little, if any, added protection in a crash. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) have come to the same conclusion. NTSB concluded in a 1987 study of school bus crashes that most fatalities and injuries were due to occupant seating positions being in direct line with the crash forces. NTSB stated that seat belts would not have prevented most of the serious injuries and fatalities occurring in school bus crashes.

In 1989, NAS completed a study of ways to improve school bus safety and concluded that the overall potential benefits of requiring seat belts on large school buses are insufficient to justify a Federal requirement for mandatory installation. NAS also stated that the funds used to purchase and maintain seat belts might better be spent on other school bus safety programs and devices that could save more lives and reduce more injuries. A summary of the NAS report is enclosed.

Rather than requiring seat belts, NHTSA decided that the best way to provide crash protection to passengers is through a concept called "compartmentalization." This requires that the interior of large buses provide occupant protection so those children are protected without the need to buckle-up. Occupant crash protection is provided by a protective envelope consisting of strong, closely spaced seats that have energy-absorbing seat backs. The effectiveness of compartmentalization has been confirmed in the NTSB and NAS studies.

Small school buses, those with a gross vehicle weight rating under 10,000 pounds, must be equipped with lap or lap/shoulder belts at all designated seating positions. Since their sizes and weights are closer to those of passenger cars and trucks, the agency believes seat belts in those vehicles are necessary to provide occupant protection.

The school bus driver has a seat belt. A belt is needed to protect the driver because the area around the driver is not compartmentalized. Thus, in a crash, as padding and spacing of the seats protect the passengers from harmful contact with components of the bus, the seat belt protects the driver from contact with the windshield, steering wheel or other area.

We are sensitive to the fact that wearing seat belts is important. Seat belts have been required on passenger cars since 1968. Most states have enacted laws requiring wearing of seat belts in passenger car and light trucks. Laws governing the usage of occupant restraints are the prerogative of each state. School buses are heavier, experience less crash forces, and distribute crash forces differently than do passenger cars and light trucks. Because of this, the crash force experienced by the passenger of large school buses is much less than that experienced by occupants of passenger cars, light trucks, or vans.

While no Federal requirement exists for seat belts on large school buses, states and localities are free to install them if they feel it is in the best interest of safety in their area. However, the NAS report states that if seat belts are to be beneficial, "states and local school districts that require seat belts on school buses must ensure not only that all school bus passengers wear the belts, but that they wear them correctly."

School bus pedestrian fatalities account for the highest number of school bus related fatalities each year. There are about 31 such fatalities per year, about two-thirds of which involve the school bus itself and about one-third of which involve motorists illegally passing the stopped school bus. In its 1989 report, NAS stated that since children are at "greater risk of being killed in school bus loading zones (i.e., boarding and leaving the bus) than in the bus, a larger share of the school bus safety effort should be directed to improving the safety of school bus loading zones."

You also inquired about the use of 15-passenger vans as school buses. Federal regulations do not prohibit the use of vans by schools, but require any van (with a capacity of more than 10) sold or leased for use as a school bus to meet the safety standards applicable to school buses. Federal regulations apply only to the manufacture and sales/lease of new vehicles. Each state prescribes its own regulations that apply to the use of any vehicle that is used to transport students.

Federal requirements regulate new vehicles that carry 11 or more persons that are sold for transporting students to or from school or school related events. Those vehicles are required to meet all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSSs) for school buses. The FMVSSs applicable to school buses require that school buses have stop arms along with many other safety features over and above those of other passenger vehicles. Under 49 U.S.C. 30101, et seq., a vehicle is regarded as being sold for use as a school bus if, at the time of sale, it is evident that the vehicle is likely to be significantly used to transport students to or from school or school related events. This statute applies to school buses sold to public as well as parochial schools. Thus, a dealer selling a new 15-passenger van to be used for school transportation must ensure that the van is certified as meeting our school bus FMVSSs.

I hope that this information is helpful to you. If I can be of further assistance, please contact me or Charles R. Hott, Safety Standards Engineer, Office of Crashworthiness Standards, at 202/366-0247.

Sincerely,


/s/ Leon N. DeLarm
Chief, Special Vehicles and Systems Division