The New York State Senate has been a national leader in efforts to improve school bus safety dating to 1962 when Senator Edward J. Speno introduced a bill--S.309--mandating the installation of seat belts in all vehicles transporting children to and from school. These efforts were continued in 1973 by Senator John D. Caemmerer who sponsored S.839, requiring a seat belt for every passenger on a school bus. Beginning September 1, 1977, all vehicles in this state used for pupil transportation with a maximum seating capacity of twelve persons, were required to have safety belts.

     New York State, through the sponsorship of Senator Norman J. Levy and Assemblyman Vincent J. Graber, was the first state to enact a mandatory seat belt use law for passenger vehicles, effective December 1, 1984.2 Subsequently, many parents, Parent-Teacher Associations, and other interested parties have been disturbed by the apparent inconsistency in public policy. Since April 1, 1982, adult drivers in New York State are required to place all children under four years of age in child restraint seats. They are also required to restrain children under sixteen years of age via seat belts when they are seated in the front of an automobile, as well as children under the age of ten when they are seated in the rear of a motor vehicle. Children over the age of 16 and up to the age of 18 are mandated to wear seat belts in the front seat of a motor vehicle, and are legally responsible, therefore, under the law. Children, however, are not protected by seat belts in school buses.

     Of the State's 731 school districts, 28 districts have installed belts on at least some of their buses and other districts are considering equipping their buses with seat belts. Whether seat belts should be required on school buses became a subject of an ever greater dialogue and discussion following the February 1985 publication of Transport Canada's report of school bus crash tests which concluded that the so- called "compartmentalized" 24-inch school bus seat on Type I school buses without seat belts offers better protection for children.3 In preparing for the issuance of this report and recommendations, the Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices (LCCTC) conducted extensive research on the effectiveness of seat belts on school buses and overall school bus safety in the United States and other nations. In response to the study conducted by Transport Canada, LCCTC along with the Senate Transportation Committee (STC) sponsored a comprehensive round table discussion to consider the Canadian School Bus Crash Tests in Albany, New York, on December 16, 1985, with invited experts from the United States and Canada giving testimony.4

The Transport Canada Study
     In the Transport Canada tests, three types of buses--large (standard 66 passenger), mid size (intermediate 22 passenger), and van type (20 passenger campwagon van)--were subjected to thirty mnile per hour front-end barrier crashes. Each bus carried six 5th percentile adult anthropometric dummies, three belted and three unrestrained. The selection of the 5th percentile female dummies has been widely criticized because the size of the dummies purposely targets their heads to the area of seat backs where the padding narrowly covers the metal bars of the seat. Thus, use of the 5th percentile female dummy inherently results in excessive HIC readings in crash tests, thereby severely prejudicing these tests against seat belt use.6 A major flaw in the Canadian study was the failure of Transport Canada to use dummies of various sizes to represent all sizes of children. The 5th percentile dummy respresnts approximately a five feet, two inch, one hundred pound twelve year old child, and was chosen as more apt to incur increased head injuries. However, in spite of these tests induced disadvantages, the dummies wearing seat belts on the large bus were protected adequately from injury and death.

     Experimentally, Head Injury Criteria (HIC) levels of greater than 1,000 and Chest Accelerations with a force of gravity greater than sixty generally are accepted by medical safety experts as sufficient to produce severe injury or death.7

     In the crash of the sixty-six passenger bus, the only dummy experiencing life threatening forces was dummy number 1 seated unbelted in the front left hand seat which experienced a chest reading of 60.4g.8 All belted dummies recorded impacts within acceptable safety limits. although the bus met all current United States Federal standards including Standard Number 222 for school bus seat height and padding and for seat performance in crashes, it did not meet New York State's standard for 28 inch seat backs--a critical safety omission. Transport Canada also concluded the use of lap belts in the mid-size bus and small van-type bus also may result in more severe head injuries for a twelve year old child, than for an unbelted twelve year old child. The results of the Canadian crash tests prompted LCCTC's study and this report.

Findings and Conclusions
     While considerable progress has been made in school bus safety in past years, more of vital importance remains to be done, and now, not in the future, to protect the children who ride in New York's school buses. Although the skill and sense of responsibility of the driver and the soundness of operational practices play a vital role in accident avoidance, the school bus must be built in the future with more injury and life saving protection in mind and fact. Even an exemplary busing operation has to contend with the mistakes of other drivers, hazardous road conditions, or vehicle failure.54 Accidents may be unavoidable, but the outcome need not lead to human tragedy. Although today's automobiles are built with occupant protection in mind, school buses have not been designed with the same degree of emphasis upon occupant protection.

     In addition, the required use of seat belts in passenger automobiles in New York State and their acknowledged safety value make their absence in school buses even less justifiable and acceptable. Although it is important to recognize that belts alone do not provide adequate protection, the suggestion that belts in buses create a greater hazard than buses without belts has been conclusively rebutted as a result of the LCCTC hearing, extensive staff research, and the University of Michigan study. Another argument in support of seat belts on school buses is children are required to use belts in the family automobile and consequently are more apt to want to buckle up in the school bus, and when they can not, are put into a state of anxiety when riding unbelted.

     The New York State School Board Association, school transporter associations, many school bus manufacturers and local school boards are opposed to seat belts on school buses allegedly because of increased costs. This spurious argument is not borne out by the facts. The cost range for belts varies from $1,100 to $1,500 for a sixty-six passenger bus and adding additional padding to seat backs and tops will cost an estimated additional $300 per bus. However, if seat belts are mandated statewide, the cost of belts would decrease as a result of increased competition among school bus manufacturers. School districts receive up to 90 percent reimbursement in State education aid for state transportation costs which means that, for a school district, the cost for seat belts and improved padding will range from $140 to $180 per bus, a small price for the obvious safety enhancement.

     Another concern which has been raised over the years is that seat belts are used by children as "weapons." However, this concern is unfounded based on both the practical experience of school districts already using belts and by the expert testimony provided by school bus safety advocates such as the New York State PTA, Physicians for Automotive Safety, National Coalition for Seat Belts on School Buses, New York Coalition for Safety Belt Use, and the American Pediatrics Association. Many of the arguments raised against the use of seat belts are similar to those originally raised in opposition to other safety features such as the twenty-eight inch padded seats. At least one of the groups, the New York State Association for Pupil Transportation, originally opposed the twenty-eight inch seat backs and later changed its position based upon the safety record and practical experience since the use of this safety measure was mandated.55

Recommendations
     Providing safety belts in school buses will save lives and prevent or reduce the severity of injuries.56 Requiring extra padding on seat backs combined with lap belts will reduce further HIC levels and facial lacerations in school bus accidents.57 Seat belt use on school buses will have a positive carry-over affect on school children when they are being transported in passenger vehicles.

1. Safety belts should be standard equipment on every school bus manufactured on and after July 1, 1987, for use in this state.

2. Improved padding on seat backs and metal cross bars should be required on all school buses equipped with seat belts, with such improved padding exceeding current federal standards by twenty percent.

3. Standees on school buses should be phased out over a three year period beginning with the 1987-88 school year.

4. Pre-1977 school buses should have a useful life which does not exceed ten years unless an exemption is granted by the Commissioner of Transportation.

5. Post 1977 school buses should have a useful life which does not exceed twelve years, unless an exemption is granted by the Commissioner of Transportation.

6. Post 1977 school buses should be retrofitted with seat belts and additional padding on a case by case basis. The Commissioner of Transportation should promulgate rules and regulations necessary to effectuate such retrofitting and have the power to prohibit certain designed school buses from retrofitting.

7. Retrofitting should be 100 per cent state aidable.

8. Pre-1977 school buses should not be retrofitted with seat belts.

9. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles should develop a course of instruction on the safe use of seat belts for grades K-12.

10. School bus operators should receive training on the proper use of seat belts by all school bus passengers.

11. All seat belts should be color coded to eliminate confusion amongst passengers.

12. The Congress should enact Federal legislation which would require the installation of seat belts on new school buses, nationwide.

     Including additional padding on the backs of school bus seats in conjunction with lap belts and New York State's present 28- inch seat will ensure children a safer ride to and from school. Logic indicates that there will be less impact to the head during a front end collision if there is more padding on the seat back. However, LCCTC recommends additional research by Transport Canada, NHTSA, and other similar safety organizations relative to the following alternatives to lap belts which may possibly provide even more protection to children riding school buses in the future. Additional research should not be, and is not, a justification for not acting now to require seat belts on school buses:

Alternatives To Lap Belts 1. Three point seat belts.
2. Contoured heavy thick padded seats.
3. Redesigned seat backs employing no metal crossbars.
4. A forward facing multi-point restraint system.
5. A rear facing multi-point restraint system.
6. Harnesses anchoring to the seat in four places--two at the shoulder and two at the lower back level.
7. An upper torso built system similar to ones used on aircraft.

Footnotes

1 17 NYCRR § 49.6 (a) (1984).

2 New York Laws of 1985, Chap. 365 and New York Vehicle and Traffic Law, § 1229-c (1985 supp.).

3 School Bus Collision Tests (Ottawa: Transport Canada, 1985).

4 Transcript of "Round Table discussion to consider the Candian School Bus Crash Tests sponsored by the New York State Senate Committee on Transportation and the Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices, Albany, New York, December 16, 1985." (Hereinafter cited as Round Table Discussion.)

5 A 5th percentile dummy is an antropomorphic test device complying with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's regulation 49 C.F.R. § 572 (1985).

6 Letter dated December 23, 1985 to Chairman Norman J. Levey of the Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices from John D. States, M.D., Chairman and Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Rochester and Chairman of the New York Coalition for Safety Belt Use, Incorporated and Arthur Yeager, The Canadian Tests New York: National Coalition for Seat Belts on School Buses, 1985), p. 2.

7 The Commission has adopted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration definition of Head Injury Criterion (HIC) contained in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 222. For the official Federal definition, see Appendix A.

8 The Canadian Tests, P. 2.

54 School Bus Safety: Do Parents Have Reason to be Concerned (New York: Physicians for Automotive Safety, 1980), p. 1.

55 Testimony of Michael Joyce, President, New York State Association for Pupil Transportation in Round Table Discussion, pp. 56-57.

56 Telephone Conversation by Program Associate Dean Attanasio, Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices with John D. States, M.D., Chairman and Professor, Department of Orthopaedics, University of Rochester and Chairman of the New York Coalition for Safety Belt Use, March 2, 1986.

57 Ibid.

Source: "Increasing School Bus Safety for New York State's Children through Seat Belts on School Buses and the Elimination of Standees!" A Report to the Legislature by the New York State Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices. Senator Norman J. Levy, Chairman, April 1986