In yesterday's post, we looked at Peoria school bus accident that happened on Monday in which five were hurt, including three children, when the brakes went out on a bus while it was approaching a red-light, leading to a chain reaction collision involving three vehicles.
A Rhode Island school bus collision, which occured while students and chaperones were on there way back from a field trip when a car swerved in its way, causing the bus to go over the guard rail and into a roadside ditch, left eight adults and two children critically injured. 32 other passengers were taken to nearby hospitals as well, mostly with minor scrapes and bruises. The bus driver was ejected through the front windshield and was the most seriously hurt.
Would there have been fewer passengers injured in a similar bus accident if there had been seat belts on the school bus?
You would think so, and every state but New Hampshire has a regular seat belt law. However, only six states have seat belt laws for school buses.
This is because, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses are estimated at being seven times more safe than trucks or passenger cars. In other words, school buses are pretty safe already in comparison to other vehicles on the road.
As a car accident lawyer in Phoenix, you see how seat belts save lives and prevent injuries every day. It is hard to believe that more states have not jumped on making it mandatory that children wear seat belts while on buses. Even if it saves only a few kids from minor bruises and scrapes a year, as a Phoenix bus accident lawyer, I feel that it is worth the expense.
5 Comments
franchesca
April 23, 2012 at 5:49 PM
You have provided an awesome resource.
roma221221
May 2, 2012 at 3:23 PM
Thank you for providing this resource on the internet.
adeela.hicon@gmail.com
May 9, 2012 at 2:58 AM
An interesting discussion. I think that you should write more on this..
Kunal Ashar
May 28, 2012 at 11:01 PM
It's surprising that there's a debate on about seat belts in school buses in the US. The nay-sayers cite costs, logistics (who will put the belts on and off?) and enforcement as issues. Many other countries have tried to emulate US school bus safety standards, India, for example, have taken it to the next level by placing caretakers in every school bus.
Very early in the debate, they realized that the costs of an extra caretaker in a bus overshadowed the costs of dead children - it was as simple as that. Today, every school bus in India has a caretaker who enforces discipline, manages safety and ensures that the driver is free to do what he's supposed to - drive well.
Tom C.
May 31, 2012 at 11:37 AM
It's good that this kind of debate is going on. Safety must come first in school, at work or everywhere else for that matter.
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