“Thank you and always buckle up!” says the answering machine at the Carroll County Health Department, one of several agencies participating in National School Bus Safety Week, but students who ride buses can?t do that.
A lack of bus seat belts is a “ludicrous and ridiculous” oversight in transportation safety, advocates said.
“When school districts go out to secure school bus services, their only criteria is the least expensive quote,” Alan Ross, president of the National Coalition for School Bus Safety said. “We need a federal mandate [to install buses with seat belts].”
Seat belts would cost most districts about $1.50 per child per year, the coalition estimates.
Every year, parents call the Carroll County school system to ask why their children don?t have belts, said Jim Doolan, school transportation director.
Even without belts, school buses remain the safest way for children to travel, he said.
Seat belts only contribute to neck and back injuries, he said, and make it more difficult for students to evacuate.
Carroll school buses have been involved in head-on collisions, but no students were injured because of the newer design of the vehicles and their shock-absorbent seats, he said.
The expense of seat belts is not the issue, said Doolan, who pointed to the school system adding strobe lights, cameras and rear “Stop” arms at extra costs to heighten safety.
Only New York, New Jersey, Florida and California have laws that put seat belts in school buses.
In addition to the coalition, other organizations support seat belts in buses, including the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
