Monday, August 29, 2011
(photo: Safeguard)
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has rejected safety advocates’ attempt to mandate shoulder-lap seat belts in large school buses. Such seat belts are required on smaller school buses.
Nearly a half-million school buses transport children each year, and at an estimated cost of $375 to $600 per belt to install on each bus seat, federal regulators decided the change was too expensive to justify for companies.
The NHTSA insists school buses are already a safe bet, and point to statistics showing the buses have a fatality rate six times lower than passenger cars. On average 19 schoolchildren die each year in bus-related accidents, with only five occurring on buses (the rest happen in loading zones).
But organizations such as The Center for Auto Safety and The National Coalition for School Bus Safety refuse to accept the federal government’s rationale, saying it runs counter to justifications for mandating restraints in virtually every other type of vehicle under regulation.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Feds Reject Request to Require Seat Belts on School Buses (by Ashley Halsey III, Washington Post)
NHTSA Turns Down Petition for Lap/Shoulder Belt Requirement on Large School Buses (by Ryan Gray, School Transportation News
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Denial of Petition for Rulemaking; School Buses (Federal Register) (pdf)
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