Dr. Allan Horowitz, published newspaper article, The Liberal, Copyright October 9, 1991
I raised some questions in last week’s column regarding the safety of the the school buses in which children ride. Many parents haven’t been inside a school bus since their trip to Niagara Falls in the early 60s. The graffiti may be similar, but not much else is. As promised last week, here are some of the safety features contained in Canadian School Buses.
-Rear emergency exit
-Roll bars in the roof to ensure the bus doesn’t collapse if it turns over in an accident
-All interior materials must be made of burn-resistant products
-All body joints in large buses must pass certain strength tests
-All safety seats are anchored and padded for safety
-There is a special fuel system that limits the amount of fuel that can leak during and after a collision
-Driver’s seat belts (See below for more information on the issue of school bus seat belts)
-Hood latch system which eliminates the possibility of the hood popping open
-Hydraulic brake systems
-Windshield mounting to prevent ejection of occupants in an accident
There are numerous other safety features on school buses. But the question that always arises is: “Why are seat belts not put on school buses?”
When a school bus is involved in an accident 75 per cent of all occupant injuries are caused by being thrown against the back of the seat in front. It is reasonable to assume that a seat belt would prevent these injuries. However, school buses are designed to accommodate very small children, as well as teenagers and even adults. Sometimes three small children will sit side by side in one seat, and sometimes only one adult will use the same seat. This means that the seat belts will always be used by different sized people who may or may not use them correctly.
There must be some form of safety check to see if the seat belts are operating correctly. If the seat belt is not being used, the heavy buckle may cause serious injury if the bus is in an accident. If the belts are not being used, or if they are not being used correctly, injuries may result.
A busy driver who has to make sure that Sammy stops hitting Suzy, and Ralph stops making obscene noises, and Fred stops pulling down Jennifer’s pants has no time to make sure all seat belts are done up correctly.
If you have ever been to the C.N.E. or Wonderland and waited until the supervisor of the children’s ride walks around to every child and does up their seat belt you know what I am talking about.
Because of these difficulties Transport Canada opted to increase their safety standards requiring greater structural integrity.
In other words, they decided that seat belts would be too much trouble, and instead they would require all buses to be built stronger to withstand the impact to a greater degree. They also require greater passenger protection in the form of higher seat backs that have “energy absorbing” padding.
This is found in all “post-1981″ school buses.
There is presently a study underway which is testing the effectiveness of making the seats 10 inches higher and facing the rear of the bus. Each of these rear facing seats will have a seat belt.
I am not saying that seat belts in school buses are good, or not a good idea. It is just that it is not an easily manageable situation. It would be greater to make every kid wear a helmet while riding his/her bike, but that also is just not a practical idea.
If you feel that seat belts should be installed in your child’s school buses, talk to those in charge at your school board. Some school boards have already bought buses with seat belts.
It is an idea, but certainly one which has some kinks to be sorted out first.