Avery Sullenberger

Deborah Strehle

ENG.1101.516

23 November 2021

Is Putting Seatbelts on School Buses a Good Idea?

School buses have been around since 1886, so why do only some have seat belts on

them? Seat belts are known for keeping passengers safe, whether they are in a car, truck or even

on a bus. So, why is there a debate about whether or not school buses should be required to put

seat belts on the seats? Well, about 25 million children are transported to and from school

everyday on school buses. Nationwide there are about five deaths that occur on a school bus,

these deaths may not even be due to the lack of seatbelts. Although the lack of seatbelts on a

school bus allows children to move around while the bus is moving, school buses are designed to

keep children safe and seatbelts pose the risk of restraining the children in the event of an

accident. In order to prevent harm to the children who ride school buses on a daily basis, it is

imperative that we keep seat belts off of school buses.

Today school buses are one of the safest modes of transportation on the road. School

buses are very visible with features such as the bright yellow color, flashing red lights, cross

view mirrors, and stop sign arms. These features help alert drivers of the school bus and allow

them to be more cautious when around the school bus. School buses are designed to be

compartmentalized, meaning the seats are spaced close together. Also by “using seats with high,

energy absorbing backs to prevent children from being tossed around in a collision.”(Brennan).

They also use carefully planned routes. The routes are typically outside of very busy crowded

areas. Buses also drive with slow speeds to try to maintain safety when driving. “According to
NHTSA, in a 10 year span, 1,241 people were killed in school bus related accidents and only 264

people were children on the school bus.”(Brennan) Currently only eight total states require

seatbelts on large school buses. Those states are Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Nevada, New

Jersey, New York, and Texas. Adding seat belts to school buses is very expensive. The cost is

estimated to be around $7,000 and $11,000 per school bus. School buses follow stricter safety

standards than any other vehicle.

There are different types of seat belts that can be installed on school buses, including lap

belts and three-point seat belts. Lap belts present a risk to children who ride the school bus, these

lap belts can potentially cause a child to jackknife over it in the case of an accident. The idea of

putting seatbelts on school buses came about to keep children safe, but putting lap belts on a

school bus would just pose another risk. The last thing people want is more risks for their

children to have to worry about. One thing that both lap belts and three-point seat belts do is

lessen the risk of ejection from the school bus in the event of an accident. Three-point seat belts

are the best option for school buses, however they are very expensive to install and many

children would need help using them. The choice is up to the school officials, “Full, three-point

safety belts provide the greatest level of protection but they also require some training for

children, officials have said.”(Blad). In the event of an accident seat belts can restrain the

children and harm them. The seat belt itself could dig into a child and cause an injury. Also, the

seat belt could make it so the child can not get up and try to move. In the event the bus was stuck

on its side there is a risk the children could not evacuate without help.

On the other hand, without seat belts children have the ability to freely walk and move

around the school bus while it is moving. In the event children are moving around during an
accident the protective seats and compartmentalization would have been a waste. Putting seat

belts on school buses would be beneficial because it can stop children from moving around, that

is of course the children actually wear the seat belts correctly. School bus drivers tend to be very

good at making sure the children on the bus are safe in their seats. But, in the event there were

seat belts on a school bus the bus driver can not make sure every child is wearing the seat belts

correctly while the driver is also trying to get the children to and from school safely. Officials

worry that in the event of a side-impact crash compartmentalization would not be enough to

protect the children. “The NTSB concluded that ‘current compartmentalization is incomplete in

that it does not protect school bus passengers during lateral impacts with vehicles of large mass

and in rollovers, because in such accidents, passengers do not always remain completely within

the seating compartment.’”(Essex). For this reason many officials have started to be on the side

of seat belts on school buses.

A school bus is very important to a child's daily life as well as safety. A child's safety is a

very important factor in a parent's life. One thing parents should be able to do is trust that the

school bus they are sending their child on everyday is safe. School buses follow very strict safety

standards and are equipped with a variety of safety equipment. In order to keep children safe,

school buses are designed to keep children safe and seatbelts pose the risk of retraining the

children in the event of an accident. The lack of seat belts on school buses does give children the

chance to move around freely and can allow them to sit with multiple children to a seat. However

seat belts also pose the risk of harming children in the event of a serious accident. In order to

keep children as safe as possible, seat belts should not be required on school buses, the safety

equipment that is already in place is doing its job well.

 Works Cited

Bald, Evie. “Debate Renews Over Seat Belts in Buses After Deadly Crash.” Education Week,

14 December 2016, https://www.edweek.org/leadership/after-chattanooga-s

chool-bus-crash-officials-renew-push-for-seat-belts/2016/11. Accessed 23 Nov. 2021.

Brenan, Sarah. “Why Don’t School Buses Have Seat Belts? The Reason Might Surprise You.”

Motor Biscuit, 30 August 2021, https://www.motorbiscuit.com/why-dont-school-

buses-have-seat-belts- the-reason-might-surprise-you/. Accessed 23 Nov. 2021.

Essex, Amanda. “Should School Buses Have Seat Belts?” NCSL, June 2016, https://www.ncsl

.org/research/transportation/should-school-buses-have-seat-belts.aspx. Accessed 23 Nov.

2021.