School Bus Safety Concerns

[ScionDriver]

All right well yesterday a school bus in Alabama hit a wall on a highway overpass then fell over it and landed 30 feet below. A total of four students have died so far. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/21/bus.crash/index.html

My question is though; Should school buses be fitted with seat belts and/or airbags? I don't know about other countries but in the US they are not and this accident is raising questions about that issue.

Personally I don't see a reason for it. As the article says less than 10 kids a year die in school bus accidents and plus if they had safety belts they'd be like the ones on airplanes and I could see problems arising with students getting trapped in a different type of crash or just not wearing them anyway.

Discuss.

[kingofthering]

Sigh... Research shows that you have a bigger chance of dying without a seatbelt than getting trapped.

[drakkie]

For some reason seatbelts are obliged i ntouring cars here,but not in public transportation. I witnessed the effects today,when the bus i was in had to make an emergency stop. I was sort of sleeping and i hit the seat in frotn of me... I cant believe they dont have these things in them,they are very useful :)

[coolieman1220]

well the new ones do have seat belts they just aren't used or are tucked away. they aren't that safe school buses IMO

[jcp123]

I thought school buses already had seat belts...? Maybe it was just a California thing...

[NSXType-R]

None of the school buses have seatbelts, and none of the tour buses have seat belts either. It's good that they have seatbelts, but I just don't see them around anymore. Airbags would be good, but 40 airbags going of at the same time with people not necessarily restrained is huge a headache.

If they put airbags, they better make it so that everyone is restrained.

Are European school buses (or the equivalent) safer or are they just as bad?

[mclaren_crazy]

studies have been done, and I dont know the exact details, but due to the design of the busses and the seats, seatbelts would actually do more harm than good

[jcp123]

studies have been done, and I dont know the exact details, but due to the design of the busses and the seats, seatbelts would actually do more harm than good

Probably 'cause they're lap belts and all you'd do is get internal bleeding if that's your only restraint.

[dydzi]

in EU seatbelts are compulsory in coaches, but to be honest nobody really botheres about it

seatbelts in public transport would be such a nonsense, c'mon and think of it - imagine all the people fastening and unfastening at every bus stop

hard to say wether they should introduce it in school buses - i think it wouldn't hurt to do that, but on the other hand is it worth it?

[NSXType-R]

Actually it'd be smart to teach the kids early on how to use seatbelts.

[Spastik_Roach]

I havn't been in a bus, school or otherwise yet that has had seat belts..

[TVR IS KING]

My old bus had metal bars running along the edges of the seats. If it crashed, many people would be severely hurt/mentally damaged/dead.
My current one has seatbelts, but a lot of people dont bother with them. I know I dont, they really are uncomfertable. I dont think they work well with the upright seating. But most do, which is good to see.

[Zytek_Fan]

Racing seats in busses would work!

[silverhawk]

you wont believe the public buses i travel in. there is are no safety standards or laws. the buses dont stop for people to get off/on, they just slow down a little. the windows & the rear have bars on them so that passengers can climb & sit on the roof. the conductor also climbs the bar to collect the fares while the bus is moving. sometimes the bus is so crowded that the conductor collects the fares thru the windows while hanging on the bars.
i'm not exagerrating coz i live in a third world country so i dont think many of u can imagine the kind of buses we have here.

[drakkie]

Actually it'd be smart to teach the kids early on how to use seatbelts.

Ain't this the job of the parents ? :rolleyes:

I havn't been in a bus, school or otherwise yet that has had seat belts..

In Europe regulations state that Touring cars have to have seatbelts. Police regularly checks if people wear them. However in the often more dangerous public transport they dont have 'em... While touring cars usually cruise on the hihway,which is much safer, the public transport winds its way too twisty roads or overcrowded rush hour traffic in the cities... Regulations are pretty stupid sometimes...:rolleyes:

[Quiggs]

50 kids. 1 driver. Good luck getting them to buckle up.

[Bob]

Buses mass many tons and are driven by professionals (usually) at fairly slow speeds(again, usually). When they hit something, it breaks. Which is why there's a negligible death rate in bus accidents. Seatbelts are unneccesary and impossible to enforce.

Look at this crash- its tragic but this bus fell 30 feet from a highway overpass and over 50% are out of the hospital, while only 10% died. With a crash like this happening maybe one or two times a year, its just not worth it to add seatbelts when they won't be worn anyway.

[McReis]

This week, portuguese government started to impose seatbealts on every child transportation bus. They are proper 3 point seatbelts and the seats have to be installed with a special cushion if the child is under a certain height.
I couldn't agree more. One thing are adults, other are small and light kids lose inside a bus. An emergency stop is enough to kill a kid who is standing inside a school bus.

[greg.harvey]

People make the same tired excuses about seatbelts in buses as they used to make about seatbelts in cars. Now they've been compulsory in cars for so long, no one complains. In fact, it's even a social taboo to not wear a seatbelt in a car here in the UK these days, because of the danger you place on your fellow passengers.

Buses should have seatbelts. Just like cars, it should be a legal requirement to wear them. Adults should be personally accountable if they do not, just the same as a car. And the driver should be personally accountable for any minors in the vehicle not wearing belts, again, just like a car. And anyone who says it isn't enforceable should check out the way London Transport deal with the rules. You break 'em, the bus doesn't move! See how long you can ignore the driver, when he's saying the bus won't move until you do as he says and with all the other passengers telling you to stop being a dick and behave! The pressure of an angry mob is a great motivator! :D

[Ferrer]

I agree completely with Greg. Safety is very important, and should be enhanced whenever possible. If it's as easy as wearing seatbelts, then so should be it.

[Piacki_117]

In France some school buses have seatbelts, some don't. But all travel buses must have seatbelts.

[drakkie]

at fairly slow speeds.

Then dont take the bus I always take. The engine rev-limiter gets some serious abuse ;) They drive about 125-130 km/h on the left lane without any crumpling zone. The emergency stop of yesterday showed the result of it to me. Me and my laptop-bag were launched when the driver slammed the brakes for an emergencystop. I was trying to get some sleep and not expecting this at all. Anyway I flew forward and slammed the seat in front of me with the chest. The result was a sore spot on the chest and two painful knees(they are placed sideways,because of my really long upper legs, and against the seats in front of me and had no space to fly/brake:o ). And i got coke flying through the bus into my neck :mad:

This incident made me wonder what would've happened with seatbelts on. Though they wouldnt be comfortable nor "cool" to wear it could save many injuries/dead... Enforcing it would be harder,but if you just give people good and clear info on it,they should make a decision of their own. Offcourse some losers will make the wrong one,but that is their own fault and injuries are their fault !!! :rolleyes:

[Quiggs]

Darwin ftw.

[NSXType-R]

It's your problem if you don't want to wear a seatbelt (and become a projectile while you're at it), but what happens to those who do want to wear it? It's better to have the option to use it than not to have it at all. Seatbelts save lives. Period.

[IBrake4Rainbows]

In Australia it's mandatory to have seatbelts in Coaches and School buses - two horrific accidents in the Early 90's on coaches up near Toowoomba QLD - which killed 50+ people in two seperate accidents - spurred action.

I never drive without my seatbelt on, I never go on a Coach without one. People who think they do more harm than good - enjoy the windscreen.

In School Buses I can understand why it's an impractical solution. but the problem, as i see it, is not the buses or the kids, it's the drivers. those two accidents in Toowoomba were caused by Drivers addled up on speed, coming down and falling asleep at the wheel. If we can help keep these drivers awake but undistracted by screaming redneck children then perhaps stuff like this won't happen.

[Bob]

Then dont take the bus I always take. The engine rev-limiter gets some serious abuse ;) They drive about 125-130 km/h on the left lane without any crumpling zone. The emergency stop of yesterday showed the result of it to me. Me and my laptop-bag were launched when the driver slammed the brakes for an emergencystop. I was trying to get some sleep and not expecting this at all. Anyway I flew forward and slammed the seat in front of me with the chest. The result was a sore spot on the chest and two painful knees(they are placed sideways,because of my really long upper legs, and against the seats in front of me and had no space to fly/brake:o ). And i got coke flying through the bus into my neck :mad:

This incident made me wonder what would've happened with seatbelts on. Though they wouldnt be comfortable nor "cool" to wear it could save many injuries/dead... Enforcing it would be harder,but if you just give people good and clear info on it,they should make a decision of their own. Offcourse some losers will make the wrong one,but that is their own fault and injuries are their fault !!! :rolleyes:

Different country different circumstances. State speed limit here is 55mph except on the turnpike. Less than 100 km/h, and I've never been in a bus that managed even that. Plus, American kids are pricks and would not wear the seatbelts, many don't in cars, why would the bus be any different? I'm not saying that seatbelts are bad, and if they were there I would wear one, but when you look at the statistics, the number of lives they would save is pretty small compared to the expense. When less than 100 kids die every year in bus crashes and many thousands die in car crashes, I think it makes more sense to emphasize driver safety. Alot of people I know are horrid drivers and around here its way too easy for kids to get their licenses. imo that's where the money should be spent, not on seatbelts that will go unworn.

[NSXType-R]

Yeah, you're right Bob. It's way easier to try to make drivers safer than hope that a whole bunch of kids who don't listen listen to you.

Another thing that bothers me about school buses are the state of repair. I've seen many buses with very very poor emissions. Black smoke and soot spewing out of the back. It seems like the bus companies just don't care. With so many kids riding it daily, it seems that those diesel fumes could be a health concern, especially for the drivers.

[greg.harvey]

Nah. Teaching drivers to drive better is not going to help you if someone pulls out in front of you or the bus sheds a tyre doing 50mph!!