Better restraints to be required for school buses

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is setting new rules for school buses which will take effect by Fall 2011. These rules, over six years in the making, follow numerous accidents which resulted in avoidable injuries.

The first rule requires three-point seat belts on small school buses (under five tons in weight). The European Union, Australia, and five states already require safety belts on school buses, but in 1977 the NHTSA chose not to require them. In 1998, Congress ordered NHTSA to reconsider.

In 2002, NHTSA proposed increasing seat back height from 20 inches to 24 inches and requiring buses under 10,000 pounds to have lap/shoulder belts. This did not result in action until now. The rationale for higher seatbacks is to act as a substitute for seat belts in restraining students in a crash.

Economically, the case for seat belts is countered by the costs quoted by the industry and NHTSA – $40-$50 per seat (in a new bus) plus a reduction of available seats by 17%. NHTSA claimed in 2002 that this would cost over $100 million per year, saving an average of one life per year.

Between 1995 and 2005, the fatality rate for children in school buses (1 per billion miles travelled) was extremely small; the rate for children walking or bicycling to school was higher by a factory of 122:1 and 87:1.