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Are seat belts on school buses worthwhile?

Jun 9, 2010 | Fannie Flono | The Charlotte Observer

I don't know the answer. But given the tragedy in Atlanta a week ago I've got to pose the question. Should school buses be equipped with seat belts?

I've heard the pros and cons of the debate before.

Cons? Seat belts are an enormous expense without enough proven benefit. Seat belts can be a problem in getting kids off buses if there is an accident. Students won't buckle up so bus drivers waste time and energy trying to force them to.

Pros? Seat belts already in use on smaller buses throughout the nation have proved effective restraints in accidents. Seat belts also improve student conduct on buses, requiring less discipline from bus drivers.

For me, the pros got a big boost from the words of Dr. Jeffrey Salomone of Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital. A week ago, six people were killed and at least 29 injured when the driver of the Bluffton University baseball team bus slammed into a barrier at an exit ramp he mistook for a regular traffic lane. The bus overturned and fell 30 feet onto a highway below.

"These kids were like flying missiles," Salomone said. He said the lack of restraints contributed to most of the internal injuries.

Salomone's words might not be enough to demand seat belts on all school buses. But they're surely enough for a serious discussion of the matter.

North Carolina's last extended debate on school bus seat belts occurred in the 1980s after one of the worst school bus wrecks in state history. Six students were killed and at least 22 injured in Greene County in 1985 when a school bus crashed into a tractor-trailer. The truck driver also died. N.C. lawmakers killed a bill that would have required seat belts, but a commission set up by the governor did recommend replacing older buses with newer, better-designed ones.

A 1987 state study of school bus seat belts in Cleveland and Wake counties showed seat belts improved discipline among elementary students but use of seat belts by junior and senior high school students was very low. The benefits did not justify the costs, state officials determined.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg did its own study in 1985. A committee said, "in principle" it supported "the need for additional passenger restraints" but called on the federal government to develop new systems such as shoulder harnesses or airbags.

Since then five states - California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York - now require seat belts on school buses. Several others are seriously studying the requirement.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent a report to Congress in 2002 on school bus passenger safety. The agency said seat belts if used 100 percent of the time could save lives. But it also said there could be "unintended consequences" of reducing bus capacity and children using alternative, less safe transportation. Serious school-bus accidents are rare. Most injuries occur when students are trying to get on or off buses, not from wrecks.

The agency said "compartmentalization," the standard federal regulators have backed since 1977, is still a solid approach. It requires the interior of large buses to provide occupant protection such as strong, closely spaced seats with energy-absorbing seat backs. But the agency said its research shows increasing seat back height and requiring buses of less than 10,000 pounds to have lap/shoulder restraints is worthwhile.

Still, the earliest these performance standards could be enacted would be 2010 or 2011. Giving the industry time to make the transition pushes the changes to 2013 or 2014.

That's too long for some folks. After a school-bus accident killed four students in Huntsville a few months ago, Alabama launched a pilot program on school bus seat-belt use. Tennessee lawmakers debated a bill last year requiring seat belts but it stalled, partly because of the costs involved. But after viewing the scene of a school-bus accident where one adult died and 30 children were hurt, Bedford County (Tenn.) Fire Chief Mark Thomas said the money would be well-spent.

This is an emotional issue that requires more facts on the table. But it also requires a serious conversation. The words "flying missiles" got my attention. They should get yours, too.