Why buses should have seat belts

Last year alone, 17 states introduced seat-belt bills. None of them passed. There are heavy hitters on either side of the seat-belt debate. Those in favor of seat belts on school buses say that teaching children to buckle up in any vehicle should be a consistent message.

To buckle up The National Coalition for Seatbelts on School Buses lists the following as reasons why all large school buses should have seatbelts.

Smaller school buses that weigh less than 10, pounds are already required to have them. Or not to buckle up Opponents of seat belts on large buses disagree, saying that they are not only unnecessary, but could also be hazardous.

But when it comes to the most serious kind of accident, a rollover, the benefits of lap-shoulder belts become vividly clear when compartmentalization fails. Every day, in every district, children get rowdy on the bus. They stand up in their seats. They turn around and talk to the children behind them. They walk the aisle. Compartmentalization only works when students are sitting in their seats, facing forward, with their feet on the floor.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of school buses transport more than 25 million children to and from school, according to the American School Bus Council. That number represents about 50 percent of the K population.

School buses travel approximately 5. In fact, school buses are the safest mode of transportation for children to get to and from school. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA , on average only six student passengers die in school bus crashes each year, compared to approximately 2, children who are killed in motor vehicle crashes annually.

School buses are equipped with more safety equipment and must adhere to stricter standards than any other vehicle on the road. Concerns have been raised, however, about the effectiveness of compartmentalization in side-impact crashes. The results of the program, published in a study in October , concluded that seat belts would make school buses safer, but also found that the costs of implementing a program would be greater than the benefits.

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Accessed 8 Oct. Just plug in the info for this article. Good luck! I am a school district bus driver. I cannot imagine how harmful seat belts would be on most busses. Since grades k ride the same buses the improper use and fit would injure many children Thanks for sharing!

What makes eevee your favorite Pokemon? We would love to learn more! Great question, lily! Some places do require seat belts on school buses, but this Wonder helps explain what most school buses do not have seat belts! According to our research, yes!

Because school buses are so large and heavy, and the passengers are sitting in seats high off the ground, school buses are very safe! Hi, Lily! Since we do not list the publish date for our Wonders of the Day, you may put the accessed this page for information. The following is how you would cite this page:. Accessed 27 Sept. One Direction is still around? Have you heard of Backstreet Boys? They are really good, too. Yes, the Backstreet Boys were popular quite some time before One Direction!

So glad you learned something new with us today, Wonder Friend! Thanks for checking out this Wonder with us! Thanks for sharing that info, Mell22!

We encourage you to take a little Wonder Journey to find out more about this topic, since you are so interested! I'm not dumb it wasn't foggy out??? No way! We hope your bus driver isn't actually that mean, but thanks for sharing your connection to this Wonder, Noah!

They should. Have seat belts on the bus for students good. I like the seat belt on the bus I have to ask my bus copeny for the seat belt because it is safer. Bummer, Noah - we are sorry that happened to you. The important thing is that you know the right answer, even if the quiz was buggy.

Awesome, Mercedes! So glad this Wonder was helpful for you! Thanks for being a good Wonder Friend! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Jhordyn! The hard part seems to be talking states into spending the money to put them in. Then of course how to enforce seatbelt use is an issue.

We appreciate you joining the conversation! Interesting question, Dremon! You should submit that to our Wonder Bank. Thanks, Wonder Friend! That would be beyond our power, Dremon. But hopefully you were able to learn about why it isn't an easy fix for states. Thanks for checking out this Wonder! Driving a school bus seems like it would be a pretty tough job. It would require a lot of concentration, that's for sure. Thanks for sharing your connection, Jay.

Stay safe out there! We have always been curious about this, too, Micayla! Glad you enjoyed learning about it with us! Thanks, Jamien! You sound like a scholar who is poised to do great things.

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A pickle tree does sound delicious! Thank you for joining the conversation, Ellen. We found information about school buses for this Wonder, but we aren't sure about specifically the smaller buses.

We hope you'll research this further and let us know what you find out. Thanks for sharing your experience, keys. We think it's best to keep your seat belt fastened while the bus is moving.

We're glad you commented! Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this Wonder question, Paul! We appreciate you sharing the additional information, too.

It's definitely a heavily debated topic. Safety is always important! Thanks for sharing your opinion about this Wonder, Daniel! We're sorry you didn't like it. Luckily, there are more than 1, other Wonders to explore on the site! We hope you check them out! Hello, Wanda!

We appreciate all you do to keep children safe traveling on buses! Hello, Bus Control! Thanks for sharing your opinion on this topic.

We respect everyone's opinion and this WONDER only represents the factual data about the use of seat belts on school buses. The booster seats should be built into the main seat. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about adding booster seats, Ellen. We are glad you are here at Wonderopolis. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us, Peggy L.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Breyana B.! Seat belts are very important when riding in a car or truck! Buses are safer because of their size and the way they were built. That's interesting, Jordan. We're not sure if the windows are glass or plastic, but as we've seen in the Wonder Text, buses are the safest mode of transportation on the ground! We think that when you are riding on the bus, you'll be kept pretty safe! Thanks for bookmarking Wonderopolis and giving us a stellar rating, Ethan!

That's a good question, Darrel! We think that the bus driver wears a seat belt because he or she doesn't have padded seats in front like the passengers have. In case of a collision, the driver needs to be protected from the glass window at the front of the bus.

We're glad you enjoyed this Wonder of the Day, Andrew! Thanks for stopping by Wonderopolis for a bit! That's a great question, Corrales Elementary 5th grade class! We imagine it's because the bus driver isn't surrounded by padded seats the way the passengers are. The driver has a big glass window in front of him or her, so a seat belt provides extra safety in case of an accident. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Sarah!

Seat belts are SO important if you're riding in a car, truck or other personal motor vehicle! We hope you buckle in every time you go for a ride!

That's a great question, Mrs. Mason's Class! We think that city buses are safer than cars as well, for some of the same reasons school buses are: city buses usually travel at low speeds compared to cars; passengers even ones who are standing are not as close to the level of cars, so if there is a collision, their legs and feet are hit and not usually their heads and chests; and the large size and weight of the bus helps absorb the impact of a collision.

That's a good point, Simon! It would probably be tough to enforce seat belt-wearing on a bus.