MonticelloLive

The following question was submitted by a ML reader: Why do the public schools not require the children to be buckled up or sit in car/booster seats on the school buses when the state law rightly requires them to do so in private vehicles?

Mike Simmons, director of the Arkansas Department of Education Transportation Department, answered this question for MonticelloLive. His first point was that school bus safety is a very important issue, not just here in Arkansas, but nationwide. He shared that there are very stringent guidelines for the manufacturing of school buses which meet the specific Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Some things about the way school buses are designed make them safe. The bus frame is designed to withstand 1.5 times the weight of the bus in a roll over accident. The seating is compartmentalized, meaning there are high seat backs with extra padding and the seats are very close together. Also, buses don’t have the same safety issues as smaller motor vehicles. In almost all accidents, the point of impact on the bus is well below the passengers’ feet, making it more safe than a wreck with involving normal passenger vehicles.

Mr. Simmons agrees that this is a very passionate issue and is concerned. He believes that eventually seat belts on buses will be a mandated requirment. He says, however, that numerous studies have shown that lap only belts in buses are more dangerous than not having seat belts at all. His hope is that if it becomes a requirement to install seat belts it will be the lap/shoulder belts and not lap only.

In Arkansas alone, 325,000 students are transported over 23 million miles each year. Less than two percent of all accident related fatalities involve school buses. There have been only 4 fatalities due to a school bus accident in the last nine years.  The State Department of Education Transportation Department has proven that safety is top priority for students and they will continue to improve in ways beneficial to all.