Why are buses not required to have seat belts for their passengers?

Question

Most states have seat belt laws, but I noticed that people in buses do not have to wear seat belts. Are they not in the same danger as people riding in their personal vehicles?

Answer 1

if you get hurt its the bus drivers fault.but if you are in a normal car it would be your fault and buses are safer

Answer 2

they don't have them on school buses either... i guess if you get in an accident just go limph.  =)

public and school buses go much slower than other vehicles, and if passengers had seat restraints on then it would slow the flow of passengers to and fro the bus.  This is why that driver screamed at me when I stood up in the isle on the bus. (Plus I was naked and I had a gun)

Answer 3

and a lot buses make stops too often (like a transit bus)

passeners are not on the bus very long)

Answer 4

This has been an ongoing debate since seat-belts where first required by law. I hear a lot of pros and cons but it would be nice if I could choose. Have you noticed there are NON on many buses?

Answer 5

I dont know, it's like how u cant drink in the back seat of your car when a sober person is driving, but u can drink in a limo. Whats up with that?

Answer 6

Many commercial buses do provide seatbelts,  but passengers are not required to use them.   School buses up to now have not been so equipped due to cost,   many of the seats used would have to be redesigned and replaced.  

No,  bus passengers are not in the same risk catagory.   First,  the size of the bus places passengers above the impact in most collisions  (rollovers the notable exception).    Second,  the passengers are free to perform the other tasks that  those in personal vehicles do while driving (and thus are distracted).     Third,   there is no danger of a bus under-riding another vehicle.   A small car can easily get under a large vehicle,  whether pick-up,  bus or truck.

Answer 7

Have you looked at a bus lately? TWICE as tall as a car, in general, and have 20 times the mass. Seating area above most possible points of collision. How can you even SAY that a passenger in a bus is in the "same danger" as someone riding in a personal vehicle?

Do you know what's the average number of deaths of bus passengers per year?

The answer is about TEN PER YEAR, entire USA.

How about school buses? Stats from 1990-1999. Average fatalities per year: 20, but ONLY 5 as a passenger. The rest are kids running near the bus (just getting on, or just got off) and got ran over by either the bus or other vehicles.

Out of how many fatalities you say? The answer is 2% of total

"The study found that between 1991 and 1999, an average of 815 school-aged children were killed each year in motor vehicle crashes during normal school travel hours; of that 815, five were passengers in school buses, and another 15 were pedestrians killed by school buses. Thus, on average 790 out of 815 (98%) school-aged child deaths in motor vehicle crashes during school travel hours occurred in passenger vehicles or to walkers, bicyclists, or motorcyclists. More than half of all the deaths occurred to occupants of vehicles driven by a teenager."  2007 Report to Congress RE: Seatbelt on school buses (http://www.stnonline.com/pdf/CRS_Seat_Be...

Buses are already the safest means of travel there is. You'd get a lot more done working on the more egregious methods of travel, such as "teen drivers" and so on. They caused 54% of the fatalities (out of 815)