Seat Belt Hearing Scheduled for July 11th

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 4, 2007) — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today published a notice in the Federal Register announcing July 11, 2007 as the date of a school bus seat belt summit in the nation's capital. The day-long hearing will be held in conjunction with the school bus industry, the U.S. Department of Transportation, American Academy of Pediatrics and seat belt proponents.

The Federal Register notice provided background information on the contentious issue of whether or not to install an active restraint system on large school buses. The current safety standard known as compartmentalization is a passive restraint system which means that the protection is there when needed without the need for passengers to take any action such as buckling a seat belt.

Since the mid-1970s numerous studies have been conducted about the safety of two-point lap belt systems in large school buses. According to the Federal Register Notice, "...lap belts have been on large school buses for over 30 years without any documented serious injuries resulting from the use of the seat belt restraint systems."

It added, "NHTSA's laboratory simulations also showed that the use of combination lap/shoulder belts, if properly worn, could provide some safety benefit to both large and small school bus occupants regardless of their size."

The July 11th hearing is designed around four panels: State and Local Policy, Seat Belt Systems for Buses, Economics of Belts on Buses and Seat Belt Usage--Experience, Education and Enforcement. Experts and advocates from the public sector, medical community, pupil transportation associations and manufacturers have been invited to present testimony.

Individuals wishing to comment but unable to attend may submit their comments to the Docket by electronic communications. All comments and a transcription of the hearing will be posted to the online US DOT's Document Management System.