This
is an original
NHTSA Interpretation File
[This
file was downloaded from the NHTSA
Website]
March 10, 1988
Rusty Mitchell
A-Z Bus Sales, Inc.
P.O. Box 9389
5555 W. Mission Blvd.
Ontario, CA 91762
Dear Mr. Mitchell:
This is a response to your letter of November 11, 1987, in which you asked
for information on the "application of seat belts in school
buses." I am pleased to have this opportunity to explain our regulations to
you.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is responsible
for developing safety standards applicable to all new motor vehicles, including
school buses. In 1977, we issued a set of motor vehicle safety
standards regulating various aspects of school bus
performance. Among those standards is Standard 222, School
Bus
Passenger Seating and Crash Protection. Standard 222 requires large school
buses (those with a gross vehicle weight rating over 10,000 pounds) to afford
passenger crash protection by means of "compartmentalization."
Compartmentalization requires large school buses to incorporate
certain protective elements into the vehicles' interior construction, thereby
reducing the risk of injury to school bus
passengers without the need for safety belts. These elements include high
seats with heavily padded backs and improved seat spacing and performance.
Our regulations require a safety belt for the school
bus
driver because the driver's position is not compartmentalized. Further, because
small school buses (10,000 pounds or less GVWR) experience
greater force levels in a crash, Standard 222 requires the added protection
of safety belts at each passenger position in a small school
bus.
School
buses continue to have one of the lowest fatality rates for any class of motor
vehicle. Large school buses are among the safest motor vehicles
because of their size and weight (which generally reduce an occupant's exposure
to injury-threatening crash forces), the drivers' training and experience,
and the extra care other motorists usually take when they are near a school
bus.
For these reasons, our regulations do not require safety belts for passengers
in large school buses.
I
enclose a copy of a June 1985 NHTSA publication titled "Safety Belts in School
Buses," which discusses many of the issues relative to this subject.
You also asked whether there is an order form listing available data for safety
belts in school buses. This agency does not publish "order
forms" for any data. For further information on this subject, you may wish
to contact individual school bus
manufacturers to ask for data about safety belts in their buses.
I hope you find this information helpful.
Sincerely,
(sgn)Erika Z. Jones
Chief Counsel
Enclosure
ref:222
d:3/l0/88
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