There are many good points on both sides of the school bus seat belt debate, but ultimately the safety of children is most important. School buses are designed to be as safe as possible, but that has been shown to be moderately ineffective in the most catastrophic of situations.
For example, while rollovers are relatively rare, they are undeniably disastrous. According to the NHTSA, over 100 school buses rollover every year. Damage and injury are almost unavoidable in those instances, but children riding in a school bus without seat belts are thrown throughout the bus – often landing on their heads.
It is only one crash situation to be considered, but the videos produced by SafeGuard4Kids show rollovers are considerably more dangerous when students are not properly secured.
The first video shows what happens when a buss full on unsecured children rolls.
The second video portrays a rollover where some of the “students” are buckled up in lap-shoulder belts, while others remain unbuckled.
The last video shows the difference between unbuckled passengers and those riding in a bus entirely fitted with lap-shoulder belts.
School buses are undeniably one of the safest vehicles on the road, but these videos suggest they are not properly equipped for some of the most dangerous circumstances.
