Seatbelts

The topic as to why there are not seatbelts on a school bus has long been a debate. There are differing views by many.
Children have been taught to wear their seatbelts in the car. New drivers of any vehicle are taught to make sure they wear their seatbelt while driving as well as their passengers. But how many times do we see vehicles on the roadways where people are obviously not fastened in a seat belt. So in a bus load of children, there will be those that would not wear a seat belt since it is not done in their family car.
During training of bus drivers, one of the focuses is student management. During this discussion, we talk about how students should sit on the bus. Elementary students are given Bus Safety classes in their classroom where they are taught the chant “sit down, sit back, sit in.” Sitting down means sitting with their bottoms on the seat, not on a leg or sitting on a backpack. Sitting back means backs are on the backs of the seats and sitting in means sitting frontward with no legs in the aisle.
As a new bus driver, it was a question why there were no seatbelts on a bus. Issues became apparent as the journey begins. Consider the fact that students travel in a very strong encapsulated area. Statistics have proven that school bus transportation is the safest form of transportation. The worst place for a student is actually immediately outside of the bus.
Along with all these ideas is the fact that how many students would actually buckle their belt and how long would it take to leave an area until all belts are fastened. It is already apparent the public becomes inpatient with school buses especially at bus stops. A vigilant bus driver must keep an eye on the kids as they board and unboard. Add the additional time to unfasten or fasten the seat belt at their stop. What about those students that decide to unfasten and “play” with them. How about the “flicker” who uses the belt as a toy/weapon? Or how about the student that has a new white coat and the seat belt is somewhat soiled (even a vigilant driver would have difficulty keeping all those belts clean!)

Author: Sharon Schrantz