A Prince George County (Washington, D.C., area)
school bus overturned Wednesday morning, leaving three children injured. National cable TV unveiled unnerving images of children sprawled out around the overturned bus and paramedics working on them.
The crash, no doubt, will touch off the endless debate about whether kids who ride in buses should wear seat belts.
The National Coalition for School Bus Safety, which supports bus seat belts,
reports:
While federal law requires seat belts on small buses, those weighing less than 10,000 pounds, only five states —
New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, Florida and California — require lap or three-point shoulder belts on standard-size school buses.
The coalition has an extensive collection of
background reports for you. Briefly, you should know:
Thirty-five years ago in California, UCLA engineers performed a series of classic school bus crash studies, which determined that the major cause for injury in school bus accidents was the inadequacy of school bus seats. They proposed "compartmentalization" of the child occupants between high-back, well-padded and well-anchored seats capable of absorbing crash forces with large aisle side panels to contain riders. A lap belt was recommended to provide substantial additional protection.
Ten years later, in response to a Congressional mandate, [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] promulgated Federal Motor Vehicle Standard 222 that provided for some of the proposed features. The 222 seat was better anchored, padded and designed for energy absorbing and was 4 inches higher than seats then in use.
For three decades, parents have been told that belting children in a bus only makes it more difficult to get them out of the bus if it crashes. The ruling wisdom is to keep the passengers buckled so they won't get thrown around during a crash. No consensus has been made on this issue.
Additional resources:
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provides
studies on school bus safety belts.
The National Association for Pupil Transportation has a
safety page. Here is the American School Bus Council's Web site.
"There is also a lot of "expert testimony" on this issue.
