March 1997
From the "Safedriver" series
Kathy Henderson, Editor
National Safety Council
Bus Edition
Vol. 41, No. 3

By Tina D. Tapas

Colleen S., a school-bus driver in Illinois for over 20 years, said she worries about a school district mandate that requires her young riders to wear safety belts.
"The thought of an emergency terrifies me," she says. "How can I get all of my young kids unbuckled and out of the bus during a fire?
Many drivers and parents share Colleen's fears. Do safety belts make evacuations difficult? Do belts prevent serious injury and death in a bus collision? The federal government has given each school district the power to make that call.
Meanwhile, the safety-belt debate rages on with no clear-cut answers.

Yes, no, can't say for sure
Safety belts on buses appear to make sense. Statistics and crash tests show they prevent serious injury and save lives in cars, light trucks and vans.
But transportation experts say heavyweight buses (10,000 pounds or more) can't be compared to cars. And today no crash tests or statistics prove that safety belts on large buses really prevent injury and death.
"We need more studies and scientific research," says Ted Finlayson-Schueler, executive director of the Pupil Transportation Safety Institute in Syracuse, N.Y. "Our organization can't take a definite yes-or-no position on belts because there are so many unanswered questions."
Bus manufacturers also take a neutral stand on the issue.
"We've seen no numbers or solid proof that they make buses safer, so we neither recommend nor discourage belts for our customers' buses," said Tom Turner, engineering manager for Blue Bird Body Co. in Fort Valley, Ga.
But Turner and other safety experts admit lap belts do more harm than good. Kids can cut their fingers or hit each other with the buckles, or tie belts across the aisle causing others to trip. Although they guard against ejection, lap belts may also cause abdominal injuries in small children and evacuation can be difficult in emergencies.
Dr. Marilyn Bull, a pediatrician from the American Academy of Pediatrics in Elk Grove Village, Ill., agreed with those concerns. However, she said the AAP recommends safety belts on buses for several reasons.
"Lap belts can cause injuries, but they tend to be less harmful than the head and neck injuries kids can get if they are not belted in a frontal collision," Bull said. She said the AAP prefers shoulder belts with lap belts for optimum safety. Bus manufacturers say shoulder belts would require costly redesign of current bus seats.
Bull also says belted children remain conscious after a crash and therefore can evacuate a bus safely. She cites studies in New York and New Jersey that show successful evacuations with belted kids. Lastly, she says safety belts on buses reinforce the "buckle up" behavior kids perform in their family cars.

No federal laws in sight
Charles Hott, safety standards engineer for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says a national safety belt law for large buses is highly unlikely. "Based on the research, there is no evidence that safety belts provide added safety," he said.
Hott said the National Transportation Safety Board found in its 1987 study of school-bus crashes that passengers seated in direct line with the crash forces suffered the most injuries and deaths. The NTSB concluded that safety belts probably would not have prevented those injuries or deaths.
Costly maintenance and repairs add to the list of problems. A 1989 study by the National Academy of Science concluded that the money spent to install and maintain safety belts might be better spent on other safety measures that could save more lives and reduce more injuries.
For example, the NTSB and NAS studies confirmed that "compartmentalization,"- providing protection through strong, closely-space seats with energy-absorbing, higher seat backs - offers the best crash protection.
Safety transportation experts, bus manufacturers and drivers say compartmentalization, better mirror systems, more driver and student training, adult loading-zone monitors, properly used bus-crossing control gates and more emergency exits will prevent more injuries and deaths than safety belts.

More research to come
Today only New York and New Jersey have state bus safety-belt law and report mixed results, according to a 1994 study by the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.
The study found that children don't always get enough training on how to wear the belts properly and drivers can't be sure every child stays buckled up for the entire ride.
The NTSB recently began a multiyear study in New York and New Jersey to see if safety belts actually prevented bus-collision injuries and deaths. Bus manufacturers also continue to research safety belts, including less costly ways to install shoulder belts. No matter what the research shows, however, experts say children must be trained to wear safety belts properly for the entire ride for them to be effective.

Readers Respond
SAFEDRIVER readers comment on safety belts on school buses:

1. Should all school buses have safety belts for passengers?
Yes 15%
No 85%

2. It would be difficult to enforce safety-belt use on school buses.
Agree 100%
Disagree 0%

We also asked readers why they think safety belts should or should not be on school buses;
Except for special needs, regular routes are much more difficult with safety belts. Children lock them across aisles, take them apart and throw the pieces and generally cause a safety hazard much worse than not having belts. Also, if children were belted in they would have difficulty getting out quickly in an emergency.Name withheld

Seat belts are not the answer. The greatest number of fatalities occur outside of the bus. The school bus is the world's safest form of over-the-road transportation. It's safer than the family car! Bradley Wolf, York Springs, Pa.

Even with high seats, a child could still be thrown from the seat in a sudden stop or turn. Just one belt across the whole seat would work. And besides, almost all of my students ask why they don't have a seat belt, so I believe they would wear them. James C. Hilley, Marrietta, Ga.

There is no way to enforce students to wear them. A driver who is alone cannot make sure all students are using them properly. I would say "yes" for all buses if there was a law that all buses have aides. Madeline Adams, Ingleside, Ill.

I would anticipate discipline problems to get the passengers to keep the belts on. Once the students accepted the fact that they had to use the safety belts. I think the problems would be less. Safety belts should be used. Lana Bartling, Sioux Falls, S.D.

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Safedriver (ISSN 0898-8749) is published monthly by the National Safety Council, 1121 Spring Lake Drive, Itasca, Ill. 60143-3201, and is printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 1996 by the National Safety Council. Information and recommendations contained in this publication have been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but the National Safety Council makes no guarantee as to, and assumes no responsibility for the correctness, sufficiency or completeness of such information or recommendations. Other additional safety and health measures may be required under particular circumstances. Address all inquiries to the Editor, Safedriver, 1121 Spring Lake Drive, Itasca, IL 60143-3201.

Reprinted with permission from Safedriver, published by the National Safety Council, 1121 Spring Lake Drive, Itasca, IL 60143-3201. Copyright © 1996 National Safety Council