A little research uncovered the fact that only a few states– have mandatory school bus seat belt laws! Texas passed one in 2007 that goes into effect September 1, 2010 and requires all new school busses to have 3 point seat belts when purchased. Certainly there is no end of debate –with heavy hitters coming out for and against them seat belts and school busses. For instance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) feels there is no compelling evidence of their ability to improve child safety. Conversely, other organizations such as the National Association for Pupil Transportation (NAPT) feels the use of seatbelts should be a consistent message for children – in cars and on buses.
I applaud Texas as taking a lead on this important issue. While I would have preferred that Texas go further and install seat belts in all school busses and not just new one, we are moving in the right direction.
Statistics on school bus accidents and fatalities are difficult to uncover. One vague source found that there have been a little over 1400 school bus related deaths in the last two decades and an average of 25 or so children are killed in school bus accidents annually. But those figures include students who are walking to the bus stop, waiting at bus stops, or entering and exiting buses. In fact, only 9% of school bus related deaths actually take place in or on the vehicle. In light of these figures it would seem that the effort to prevent student deaths should be redoubled to remind bus drivers to be careful of students entering and exiting the bus and other drivers to be cautious during school hours.
Overall school buses are an extremely safe mode of travel. Over 9 million children are transported annually via this method – and as to whether seat belts should be in all existing school busses I leave the reader with this thought – our children are our greatest possessions and we need to do everything we can to protect them.
Greg Baumgartner is a Houston truck accident lawyer and the founder of the Baumgartner Law Firm. If you have been in a commercial vehicle accident and want to speak with a Houston 18-wheeler accident attorney call the Baumgartner Law Firm.
