Why are seatbelts required in cars but not in school buses?

Question

Why are seatbelts required in cars but not in school buses?

Answer 1

School buses are generally safe enough, being that they are yellow, large, and usually drive fairly slow.

Answer 2

First, the odds that the 30-40 kids on the bus are going to keep their seat belts on when the driver is driving are pretty slim. Second, there are VERY few accidents with buses. Yes, you do hear about them, but thats because when a school bus crashes, its a big deal. Third, like another person said, they are big, yellow and go slow. Forth, even if they did get into an accident, 90% of the time, they are bigger and heavier, meaning they will over power anything they hit, thus not invoking much damage , and no injuries.  (if they hit the ditch, get hit by a train, or a semi, thats a different story). Main reason though, very few kids would wear the seat belt, even if they were inforced to.

Answer 3

Most accidents involving school buses were either frontal or rear collisions, which means that passengers were protected by a safety feature called compartmentalization.

Compartmentalization, a concept seen frequently on commercial airplanes, involves seating passengers in rows of padded seats with cushioned backs.

The belief is that during frontal or rear impact, the most common types of wrecks involving school buses, passengers would either be pushed back into their seats or thrown forward into the padded backs of the row ahead.

The use of seat belts might require stiffer seats, which would negate the theory of compartmentalization. It is also feared that some students would receive internal injuries from seat belts through a process called submarining, the tendency for a body to slide downwards during impact.

Seat belts on school buses may also hamper rescue or evacuation efforts, as adults or older students may have to spend precious minutes unbuckling young or disoriented passengers.

Unruly students could also use the heavy buckles as makeshift weapons, creating even more of a safety hazard. There is also the argument that seat belts would only protect passengers of school buses during unusual events such as roll-overs or flips, not other possible accidents such as fires or submersion.

Considering the expense of retrofitting current school buses or replacing entire fleets with approved seat belt systems, the benefits of seat belt use do not currently outweigh the liabilities.

Answer 4

It's a matter of expense. It would cost thousands to retrofit an existing bus with seatbelts and millions to do all of them in just 1 state. I have been reading up on this and my guess is that they will eventually be mandated by the federal government.

I think if seat belts had been installed and used on that tour bus that crashed in Utah yesterday, there wouldn't be 9 people dead today.

Answer 5

maybe because there are so many different size people that by the time you get the seatbelt adjusted to you, your already there.

Answer 6

It was considered too expensive to put seatbelts in all the school buses