High Seat Backs for all School Buses, Lap/Shoulder Belts for Type A's

RALEIGH, N.C. (Nov. 19, 2007) — The suspense is over.

U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters announced "first ever federal rules for three-point belts" with the announcement of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would require all Type A school buses to be upgraded from the current lap belt variety. Those smaller buses, Peters said, are more prone to rollover during crashes than larger school buses.

If finalized, the lap/shoulder belt rule would take effect three years after publication. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also gave similar direction for voluntarily-installed lap/shoulder belts in large school buses as would be required for small school buses, including compliance with anchorage strength requirements set forth in FMVSS 210 and a requirement that the restraint systems be equipped with retractors and fit all passengers from 6 years of age through adulthood. It also proposes an update to FMVSS 222 to require latching devices for school bus seats that have latches allowing them to flip up for easy cleaning.

Mary E. Peters at the July 11 NHTSA
school bus summit

The NPRM would also increase all school bus seat backs to a height of 24 inches from their current height of 20 inches, enforceable one year after a final rule would be implemented. Peters made the announcement following a ride to school with students from Morrisville Elementary School in Wake County on one of North Carolina's 14 school buses equipped with the three-point restraints.

The 83-page NPRM is posted on the Federal Register . [PDF File may take several minutes to download. Download Adobe Reader.] Public comments to the NPRM will be accepted for until Jan. 22, 2008.

"Our proposed rule would make children safer, put parents at ease and give communities a clearer picture of how to protect our students," she said, reiterating that school buses are already the safest form of motor vehicle transportation. "It's never too late to learn, especially when it comes to protecting children."

The NPRM is the first set of newly proposed school bus safety in the last 15 years. Peters said the decision to only require the restraint systems on small school buses resulted from fears that less children would ride school buses as a result of any potential decrease of capacity realized by school districts in larger buses. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wrote in the NPRM that lap/shoulder belts could enhance school bus safety above and beyond compartmentalization and the use of two-point lap belts, and it proposed to incorporate test procedures for lap/shoulder belts as required in small school buses as well as for larger school buses should school districts voluntarily choose to purchase them.

But NHTSA also recognized the fact that funds for school district to purchase the restraint systems are limited, and any reduction in school bus ridership "would likely result in more student fatalities." NHTSA also states in the NPRM that school districts could use federal 402 funds to pay the difference in school buses equipped with the three-point belts but not for the entire cost of a bus. Exactly how that would play out in competition with other state agencies for the money remains to be seen.