[Return to Home Page ] [Title Page ] [Preface to 1996 Edition ] [About the Author ] [Foreword to 1990 Edition ] [Table of Contents ] [Appendix A. Compartmentalization ] [Appendix B. TRB Special Report 222, May 1989 ] [Appendix C. Endorsements ] [Appendix D. Testimonials ] [Appendix E. Studies and Recommendations ] [Appendix F. Legalities ] [Appendix G. Guidelines to Seatbelt Implementation] [INDEX ] [Related Sites ]
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SUMMARY
CCC stands for "Coalition for Child Safety." We are a new group of people who are concerned about the lack of seatbelts on school buses. Most of us are parents of Amphitheater-District ("greater" Tucson, Arizona) students. Our continuing success in gathering signatures on a petition, which asks the Amphi Board to install seatbelts in all of its school buses, demonstrates a widespread community support for our viewpoint.
We believe that it is time for the federal government to stop using this nation's children as guinea pigs, while they test their so-called "compartmentalization" theory. Compartmentalization relies upon heavy seat padding and closely spaced seats, in order to distribute impact loads on people's bodies, more evenly than they are distributed with seatbelts in front- and rear-end crashes.
If compartmentalization has indeed reduced moderate and serious head injuries (which some people dispute), it has done nothing significant to help keep people in their seats during rollovers and side-impact crashes. This fact can no longer be ignored by opponents of seatbelts in all schoolbuses: Rollovers (which often occur during front-end crashes) and side-impact crashes, taken together, account for more than 50% of fatalities occurring in large (so-called "Type I") school buses.
Installing seatbelts in all school buses will 1) improve safety, 2) improve school-bus discipline, and 3) provide a cohesive, uninterrupted message to children that seatbelt usage is critically important, throughout their lives.
Seats are currently placed too closely together to permit seatbelts to work as effectively as they might in school buses. This is largely because the outdated compartmentalization scheme requires such close spacing for maximum effectiveness in front-end crashes. The close proximity of seats should take the blame for head injuries of students who wear seatbelts, not the seatbelts themselves. We believe that heavy seat padding helps, but that the use of lap belts in conjunction with wider seat spacing -- while it may permit fewer passengers per bus, and therefore cost more to transport students -- will provide children with a safer transportation system.
Raising seat heights to the 28-inch "New York standard," combined with an optimum adjustment of seat spacing, will permit lap belts to work most effectively.
Until so-called "3-point" seatbelts are designed for buses, lap belts are the best available restraint system. CCS members believe this, even though some head injuries may be somewhat increased during front-end collisions, due to torsos' jackknifing forward. This jackknifing, it must be admitted, may cause heads to impact with slightly more force than they otherwise might, against the too-closely-spaced seatbacks placed in front of passengers. But this added risk is worth taking, in light of the continuingly high number of deaths and injuries which are primarily being caused by people being ejected from their seating areas, during crashes and rollovers.
The school-bus seatbelt debate has been clouded by a bus-manufacturing lobby that wants to avoid the costs of retooling. And, unhappily, too many school-district officials seem to have avoided studying the issues closely enough themselves, relying instead upon the lack of a federal requirement for seatbelts, and the possibly greater need to improve safety outside of school buses, as the best arguments against having seatbelts.
Safety should now be the issue, not monetary cost. School-bus transportation is still not as safe as it could be, despite its excellent record. It requires further improvement. Every reasonable measure that can be taken to improve that safety for our children should be taken. We should waste no more time arguing over where the money that must be spent should be spent. The time for studies is over. It is time for ACTION.
This Primer is intended, in part, to convince Amphi Board members to install seatbelts on their school buses now. But, the lack of seatbelts in school buses is a nationwide problem, not Amphi's, alone. Amphi Board members still have the opportunity to be leaders in the national effort to put seatbelts on all school buses.
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INTRODUCTION
PAUL GOODROW'S STORY
Goss, John I., Director of District Operations, Marana Unified
pp. 194-5: "Paul Goodrow was leaning forward, half-standing and half-sitting in the right rear seat, when his school bus suddenly crashed off a boulder and [careened] up and over an embankment in Mahopac [NY?]. [John Goss says that the rest of the story is: The driver lost control when she spilled some coffee and fell out of her seat, since she had not fully tightened the belt that was provided.--S.L.]
"The accident tossed the 11-year-old youngster into the air, then slammed him down hard atop a seat back, fatally rupturing his liver.
"Engineers and safety advocates seeking a mandatory seat-belt law for school buses say the death of the budding young artist provided a tragic validation of their view.
"'If he had been sitting in a seat wearing a seat belt, he would not have been injured,' agreed Dr. William Stahl, the Putnam County [NY?] coroner who reconstructed the Oct. 10 [1985] crash.
"But seat-belt opponents, including many school officials in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, argue the crash was a freak tragedy that failed to challenge the adequacy of school- bus safety features -- such as high, padded seats and heavy-metal bodies -- already mandated by federal law.
"'We feel that school buses have an excellent safety record now,' said Karen Finkel, a spokeswoman for the National School Transportation Association, an organization of school-bus contractors.
"Both sides agree, however, that the death of Paul Goodrow intensified the debate over seat belts raging in school districts across the northern suburbs and the nation.
"'In most school-bus accidents, we've found that the standards required by the federal government have performed quite well. But this one raised the question of whether seat belts could have made a difference,' said Suzanne Stack, project leader for an ongoing National Transportation Safety Board study of recent school-bus accidents....
"You just can't ignore the fact that many children are injured by being thrown out of their seats and into the [aisles],' said Laura Schwarts, president of the National Coalition for Seat Belts in School Buses....
"And Angela Eidelman, an engineering designer from North Salem, noted that several of the belted dummies [in the Canadian study; see Appendix E, "Studies and Recommendations," and Index] slid forward 10 inches on the seats. That, she argued, raised questions about whether the seat belts were properly fastened and whether resulting head-impact readings were valid.
"'They just set up their ducks the way they wanted to and knocked them over,' agreed Arnold W. Siegel, a physicist and consultant for the National Transportation Safety Board and the University of California at Los Angeles Trauma Research Group.
"'The truth is that the majority of the moderate to severe injuries in school-bus accidents could be greatly reduced by seat belts or restraints,' Siegel said....
"Along with the arguments about relative safety, the seat-belt debate has triggered sharp disagreements about cost, liability and education....
"'Ironically, the first ride that many children take unrestrained by a seat belt is in a school bus,' agreed Dr. Arthur Yeager, vice president of Physicians for Automotive Safety. 'What kind of a safety learning experience for children is that?'
"Mrs. [Carol] Fast [NCSSB founder] said the most telling seat-belt argument involves neither studies nor statistics.... 'Parents should just ask themselves one question: "Would I be satisfied that my child would be safe not wearing a seat belt in a school- bus accident?"'" (From The Herald Statesman, "Far from Safe," Gannett Westchester Newspapers, 22 January 1986.)
OTHER BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Other background information is needed, before the arguments for seatbelts on all school buses are detailed.
Compartmentalization Issue
"Compartmentalization" (See Appendix A) is the method the federal government has mandated (See Appendix B) for crash protection, while leaving the decision as to whether or not seatbelts are installed or used, to the discretion of state or school-district officials. The theory is to avoid possibly increased abdominal (due to lap belts) and head (due to increased head velocities from jackknifing about the lap-belt fulcrum) injuries -- by permitting passengers to impact the back of the seat in front of them, which is heavily padded -- in order more evenly to distribute the impact load.
However, no protection is given to keep passengers in rollover or side- impact accidents from being ejected from the compartment. For large (Type I) school buses, when data from rollover- and side-impact accidents are taken together, they comprise more than 50% of death-producing accidents! It is because no mechanism has been mandated to keep passengers within their compartments, during rollover- and side-impact crashes (and, when buses swerve suddenly or hit large bumps), that so many head injuries continue to occur throughout this nation.
Compartmentalization-related issues are also presented in some of the other appendixes, in addition to Appendix A -- since the issue is included among various endorsements (Appendix C), testimonials (Appendix D), and such. (In fact, it has not always been obvious where best to place a particular
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excerpt. For instance, a testimonial on the cost of seatbelts is included in the main body of the Primer, whereas other testimonials are left in the Testimonial appendix (D). Repetition of such passages is avoided, where possible, for the sake of brevity.)
New York Seatbelt Law
During the time since Paul died, and despite no federal mandate for the installation of seatbelts in all of this nation's schoolbuses, New York State has passed a comprehensive bill pertaining to school-bus seatbelts, which was signed into law by Gov. Mario Cuomo on 30 July 1986 (cf. p. 57, NCSSB manual). That law mandates that new buses be delivered with 28"-high seatbacks and with lap belts. The option of mandating seatbelt usage on New York's school buses is left to the discretion of local-school-district officials.
New York School-bus Seatbelt Law, Brief Description
The following excerpts, from a newspaper article written at the time of the New York law's passage, provide a concise introduction to the major aspects of that law.
p. 57: "New school buses would be required to have seat belts under a bill that won final approval by the Legislature in its closing hours. School districts, however, would decide whether students must wear the safety devices.
"The measure is the first of its kind in the nation. The bill was passed in the Assembly ... by a wide margin and passed the Senate ... 38 to 20, after lengthy debate.
"'The possibility of an accident involving a school bus is always a clear and present danger,' despite safety precautions, said Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Norman Levy (R-Merrick), the Senate sponsor of the bill. 'Providing safety belts in school buses will save lives and prevent or reduce the severity of injuries.'
"Under the measure, school buses bought after July 1, 1987, would be required to have the safety feature. Buses built after April 1, 1977, could be retrofitted, but buses built earlier could not be because of federal safety regulations.
"The bill also calls for additional padding on seats. School districts would also be required to provide instruction on the proper usage of seat belts. Use of the belts on buses, however, is left up to individual school districts, which are required to hold public hearings. School officials who opt not to require use of the belts would not be held liable in an accident" ...
"The new feature will cost about $1,000 a bus, which is 90 percent reimbursable by the state in the following year. The total statewide cost annually is estimated at $1.8 million.
"The [New York State] Senate also passed a companion measure to eliminate children's standing on school buses by giving additional state aid to school districts through transportation allowances. The Assembly is not expected to pass it" (Newsday, Long Island, New York, 3 July 1986, by Kimberly Greer, Newsday Albany Bureau. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Mario Cuomo on 30 July 1986).
Progressive as New York has been, pointing the way for other states, that did not help students on 31 January 1990, in Monroe, N. Y., when their 1986 school bus veered off the road and had its roof sheared off! Thirty-six of the 38 passengers, as well as the driver, were injured (most injuries were to heads, but basic trauma was also common). Six of the student's head injuries were variously described as "serious" or "critical." The bus had no seat belts.
A much more detailed treatment of the New York situation is to be found in Appendix E.
Misleading School-bus Safety Record
p. 22: "Opponents of seat belts either misquote out of context or misrepresent school bus studies. Their claims and quotes have to be compared directly to the pages of the studies" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "A Misleading Safety Record," Carol Fast [Founder of NCSSB]).
p. 25: "It has been more than seven [Now, thirteen!--S.L.] years since the new [compartmentalizing] seat has been produced. By now a significant reduction in injuries should have been noticed. The latest National Safety Council statistics show injuries down slightly, but so is the number of students being transported" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "The Medical Case for Seat Belts on School Buses," Arthur Yeager, D.D.S.).
Seat design as Related to Seatbelts and Whiplash & Head Injuries
p. 17: Low seat backs allow heads " ... to flex back, causing cervical sprains" (From Spring--Fall 1980 Physicians for Automotive Safety "PAS News").
p. 24: "It is most unfortunate that the final [NHTSA, National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration--S.L.] standard, although an improvement, fell far short. The resulting seat is well anchored and padded; however, raising the seat back height only four inches fails to protect the average high school student from 'whiplash' because he sits head and shoulder above the 24-inch seat. Significantly, NHTSA chose not to test the proposed seat for lateral or rear-end collision effectiveness and sled tested only for low speed front end crashes. Since the seat was designed for frontal impacts, the seat performed adequately" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "The Medical Case for Seat Belts on School Buses," Arthur Yeager, D.D.S.).
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Bus-Manufacturers' Lobby and History of Disinformation
p. 142: "Cynics will be forgiven for suspecting that the bus manufacturers' lobby might have had just the tiniest influence on N.T.S.B.'s soft stand on seat belts, though [NTSB official Barry] Sweedler says not. After all, the sides were drawn long ago in this continuing saga..., and it should be no surprise to find the industry standing squarely in the 'seat belts aren't necessary' corner" (From The American School Board Journal, circa 1983).
p. 22: "So-called quotes from doctors and medical associations against the use of lap belts because they may 'damage young children's abdomens' have been rebutted by the doctors and associations themselves" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "A Misleading Safety Record," Carol Fast [Founder of NCSSB]).
p. 25: "Currently a great deal of misinformation is being circulated to oppose the installation of seat belts in school buses. Either by misunderstanding or by design, the above studies are being misquoted or quoted out of context. Costs have been widely exaggerated and dangers implied. For example, in the recent [February--March 1984] SCHOOL BUS FLEET 'Open Letter to Ralph Nader,' on the theme 'a little learning is a dangerous thing,' the editorial claimed that the UCLA study showed that the skeletal structure of five- to seven-year olds can't stand the forces as their bodies slam forward against the belts. Not only did the UCLA study never mention the subject, but the major medical organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Physicians for Automotive Safety and the American Association for Automotive Medicine (a group often misquoted to their great distress) strongly disagree. They all favor the use of seat belts for school age children" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "The Medical Case for Seat Belts on School Buses," Arthur Yeager, D.D.S.).
School Officials' Position Reflects Co-opting by Bus Lobby Stand
p. 109: "In 1971, safety engineers from the Trauma Research Group, University of California, San Diego, referred to the effect that the school-bus transportation professions have had on keeping seatbelts out of school buses. The following is a quote from their 1971 study, 'Bus Collision Causation and Injury Patterns':
'For many years, certain public and pupil transportation officials have been presenting arguments against installation of restraint systems in buses, particularly school buses. It can be stated quite categorically that the absence of load-distributing, energy absorbing seats, coupled with the absence of bus-passenger restraint systems has [been] and will continue to be directly responsible for the majority of bus injuries and fatalities.'" (From John Paulding P.T.A. School-bus Safety Committee Report, 15 January 1985, Tarrytown, New York.)
Obstinacy, School Officials'
p. 24: The automotive engineers who conducted the Trauma Research Group, San Diego, study (Siegel et al., circa mid 1960s) " ... went on to point out that only the obstinacy of pupil transportation officials stood in the way of upgrading school buses with a proper seat belt system" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "The Medical Case for Seat Belts on School Buses," Arthur Yeager, D.D.S.).
p. 25: "The industry has a choice to make. Either [to] continue to stonewall, blocking the installation of seat belts for the short term and risking the passage of punitive legislation [and, of law suits.-- S.L.] or to join in and support efforts to provide seat belts on all new school buses in a proper and orderly fashion" (From School Bus Fleet / June- -July 1984, "The Medical Case for Seat Belts on School Buses," Arthur Yeager, D.D.S.).
FEDERAL STANDARDS DO NOT REQUIRE SEATBELTS, BUT ...
p. 45: "I would like to emphasize that although safety belts are not required in large school buses, any school administration may install them if they believe they are desirable for their particular use" (From a 2 June 1983 letter to Senator Bill Bradley, U.S. Senate, from Ralph J. Whitehead, for Kennerly H. Digges, Acting Associate Administrator for Rulemaking, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)).
THREE REASONS TO WEAR SEATBELTS ON ALL SCHOOL BUSES
"1. TEACHING CHILDREN TO BUCKLE UP. The number-one killer of children and young adults today is the automobile accident. Parents who have been using infant restraints and teaching young children to use seatbelts are dismayed to find that this education is disrupted on the first day of kindergarten when the children step onto the school bus. The school system should not give children a 'recess' from safety.
The school years are the ideal time to educate children and to help them develop the safety HABIT--through consistent reinforcement. Now is the time for the schools to help a whole generation of children to think of buckling up in the same way they think of brushing their teeth.
"2. KEEPING CHILDREN IN THEIR SEATS.
Anyone who has passed a ... school bus cannot help
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but notice children standing, crawling over the backs of the seats, and leaning against [or, out of!--S.L.] the windows. The seatbelts will put the children exactly where they should be--in their seats and facing forward. The bus driver will then be able to give his full attention to where it is needed most--to driving his bus safely through the streets....
"3. PROTECTING CHILDREN IN AN ACCIDENT. Passive compartmentalization between well-padded high-backed [28-inch] seats does not provide adequate protection in rear-end, lateral, or roll-over accidents. In either broadside or roll-over collisions, children can be thrown about within the vehicle and possibly even thrown out of windows or emergency doors, causing serious injuries or fatalities. The [laws] of physics cannot be questioned [nor, repealed by the ill-informed.--S.L.]. A body will fly toward the point of impact and then back in the opposite direction. The life-saving and injury-reducing potential of seatbelts in any moving vehicle cannot be denied....
"In 1981, the National Transportation Safety Board (the same board that investigates all fatal airplane crashes in this country) stated in a fatal school-bus Accident Report:
'Since 1967, the safety board has issued 13 safety recommendations requiring the installation and use of seatbelts in inter-city and/or school buses.'
"The following quote was given by Lomita, California Mayor Ed Mehler in testimony before the Sub-committee on Commerce & Finance, on HR-4187 (The School-Bus Safety Act). In his testimony, Mayor Mehler quotes Dr. J. Alex Haller, Chief of Pediatric Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital:
"'By far, head injuries are the greatest cause of death and serious injury in vehicle accidents. It is very unlikely that there would be internal injuries due to the use of seatbelts. Especially not in children or slender adults. If the impact of an accident is severe enough for a seatbelt to cause injury, then that passenger would be dead without one.'" (From John Paulding P.T.A. School-bus Safety Committee Report, 15 January 1985, Tarrytown, New York.)
Other excerpts, touching upon these three major arguments for seatbelts on all school buses, follow.
SEATBELT USAGE INCREASES SAFETY
p. 17: "It is apparent that even a 28-inch seat would not protect older children in similar mishaps [where 'bus occupants are propelled upward as well as back'] unless they were also belted" (From Spring--Fall 1980 Physicians for Automotive Safety "PAS News").
Safety Improved During Rollover and Side-Impact Crashes
p. 21: "The National Transportation Safety Board has investigated two rollover accidents involving small buses where very young children were using seat belts. All children were able to unbuckle themselves with ease ... even though they were left hanging in the air after the accident. All escaped without injury" (From School Bus Fleet / June-- July 1984, "A Misleading Safety Record," Carol Fast [Founder of NCSSB]).
SEATBELT USAGE IMPROVES DISCIPLINE
One of drivers' major problems is that of maintaining discipline. The related issue of standees on buses is of critical importance to passengers' safety.
p. 105: "KEEP THE CHILDREN SEATED. On every bus run, parents observed children standing or hanging over the seats. The 28 [inch]-high-backed seats on our buses encourage children to stand up on the seats in order to have eye-to-eye contact with their friends. Standing children are prime targets for minor injuries should the bus stop suddenly. A monitor would help to keep the children in their seats, helping to ensure their safety" (From John Paulding P.T.A. School-bus Safety Committee Report, 15 January 1985, Tarrytown, New York.)
It must be noted that at least some others report no problems in keeping students seated, when seatbelts are provided and their usage is enforced. Catalina Foothills District and Marana District (both in the greater Tucson, Arizona, area) have both successfully left such enforcement up to drivers and have not needed monitors.
Busdrivers Become Seatbelt Converts and Teach Children
p. 22: " ... Greenburgh [a New York school--S.L.] drivers wrote a school bus safety pamphlet for the younger grades, including seat belt usage, and at their own request went into each classroom to teach the children themselves.... Many of the drivers who have been driving buses with belts have found that discipline problems are, in fact, cut down" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "A Misleading Safety Record," Carol Fast [Founder of NCSSB]).
SEATBELT USAGE IMPROVES SAFETY EDUCATION
There are both negative-educational and positive-educational aspects to be considered.
Educational Aspects, Negative
p. 3: By " ... not providing seat belts in school buses, opponents commit the silent crime of negative education. This negative training carries over into the family car, leaving children defenseless against their No. 1 killer, the automobile accident" (From 22 August 1985 USA Today, "Protect Our Children: Require Seat Belts," by Laura Schwartz).
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p. 25: "Today almost every child rides a motor vehicle almost every day. The lessons learned and the habits formed from child restraint use are not being reinforced on the school bus. For those who wish protection, seat belts are not even available" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "The Medical Case for Seat Belts on School Buses," Arthur Yeager, D.D.S.).
Educational Aspects, Positive
p. 21: "During the last few months I have literally been answering the phone day and night, seven days a week. The calls are from people all over the country who need information about how to get seat belts on their school buses. These parents have young children who have been raised under the infant-restraint usage laws that have been passed in almost every state. They are concerned that having NO belts will be a negative form of education for their children. These same parents are concerned for all the children whose parents have not taught them to buckle up and who could be taught a life saving habit in their school bus. They also worry about the fact that children have no protection during lateral (or side) collision, or a rollover, or during everyday occurrences like a swerve or a sharp turn. Rollovers and lateral collisions present the greatest risks [to] children without seat belts" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "A Misleading Safety Record," Carol Fast [Founder of NCSSB]).
p. 21: For " ... over 30 years [36 years, now--S.L.] scientists have known the dual value of seat belts on school buses. First, for injury protection and, second, for proper training in habitual use of seat belts" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "A Misleading Safety Record," Carol Fast [Founder of NCSSB]).
Even punishment can have positive educational value, related to seatbelts!:
p. 17: "Although the State of Illinois requires that belts be provided in small buses, school officials claim they 'just couldn't get students to wear them' It happened that five minutes before the accident occurred, the coach/driver ordered the girls [to] buckle up as punishment for misbehaving... (Excerpted from ACTIONS, V11:3, May 1980 ... )" (From Spring--Fall 1980 Physicians for Automotive Safety "PAS News").
p. 143: "Fifteen members of a Lake Forest, Illinois volleyball team, all wearing seatbelts, escaped with only minor injuries when the homeward-bound small bus in which they were riding attempted a left turn, was struck on its right rear passenger side, and flipped over onto its side ..... Although the State of Illinois requires that belts be provided in small buses, in all the time the school had used the bus the girls had never worn them. The school officials 'just couldn't get them to wear them.' ..... five minutes before the accident the girls were misbehaving and the coach/driver stopped the bus. AS PUNISHMENT, all the girls had to wear their seatbelts for the remainder of the trip!!' (1980 May ACTIONS, a newsletter published by Action For Child Transportation Safety)
COST OF SEATBELTS
When it comes to issues of safety, cost should be the last consideration. That is why various aspects of cost are considered last in this Primer.
Costs for seatbelts and seatbelt-related construction depend largely upon whether new or old buses are under discussion. The following excerpts touch upon issues of cost.
p. 82: "Seat belts are not expensive. They can be ordered for $6.25 each and a district can install them itself with little trouble. It is interesting to note that both the Wayne Bus Company and the Blue Bird Bus Company use seats which are constructed to have belts attached to them. [Carol Fast (NCSSB) notes: 'this is not correct as written. Only Wayne buses automatically come with seatbelt {anchor} holes in the frame. If belts are desired for Bluebird buses, the buses must be ordered with seatbelt anchorages. Existing Bluebird buses do not have anchorage points.'] For buses equipped with belts by the manufacturer, the cost is higher, from $10 to $16 per seat [not per position on the seat.--S.L.] depending on the manufacturer. The average [1983--S.L.] cost for a 66 passenger bus, which includes in-house labor, is about $1000 per vehicle. If one considers that the average school bus is on the road for about seven years, the cost is less than $150 per year for the life of the vehicle. Apart from the human concerns, it seems to me that $150 per year is a fairly cost effective means of preventing medical and insurance costs from increasing if one serious injury is prevented. When the element of human suffering is considered, is $1000 per vehicle worth spending? Let's not forget, we spend $150 for every football helmet we put on a student because we know that students need protection from injury. Can we not afford the same amount each year to outfit a bus with seat belts?" (From 8 December 1983 testimony by Salvador Corda, Assistant Superintendent, Greenburgh Central School District No. 7, New York).
p. 3: Skeptics " ... should weigh the 75-cent cost per child per year of seat belts against liability expenses that may be incurred if seat belts are not provided. The family of a child fatally injured in a school bus accident in Texas was recently awarded more than $500,000 as a settlement in a suit that charged negligence for not providing seat belts" (From 22 August 1985 USA Today, "Protect Our Children: Require Seat Belts," by Laura Schwartz).
COST OF 28"-HIGH SEATBACKS
p 93: "New York State currently is the only state that requires 28 [inch]-high seat backs and the additional cost would be approximately $25.00 more per row, or approximately $275.00 for a 66-passenger bus" (letter by Mike Mayden, Regional Sales Representative, Wayne Corporation).
See Appendix E for more details.
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COSTS, LIABILITY ASPECTS
One of the cost aspects people do not often seem to consider is that of potentially reduced liability. I have not yet been able to document such a reduction in liability-insurance costs, due to the installation of seatbelts in school buses. However, as data become available to insurers, and competition for the business of school-bus-with-seatbelts districts increases, insurance rates should actually be reduced for districts using school-bus seatbelts.
p. 25: "Since 1977 Type II vehicles have been equipped with seat belts without problem. When utilized they have worked well, and accident reports have shown they have saved lives. There has been no increase in liability for any operator of these Type II buses or for any district installing belts on the large buses" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "The Medical Case for Seat Belts on School Buses," Arthur Yeager, D.D.S.).
For legal opinions and further insights into matters of liability, see Appendix F.
Schools' Responsibilities
p. 14: "Dr. Arthur Yaeger, PAS school bus chairman, feels strongly that belts should be there for children whose parents insist on their use, regardless of what other children may choose to do" (From Spring--Fall 1980 Physicians for Automotive Safety "PAS News").
p. 132: "When considering whether or not to put seat belts on their district buses, the Board of Education requested a legal opinion as to the increase of liability it might incur. This is a summary of the response.
"If the board decides to install the belts, '...the potential benefit of reduced liability outweighs the additional obligation incurred', but the Board 'must act reasonably' in doing this. 'The Board could meet its duty of care owed if it (a) [ensures] that seat belts are properly installed and maintained, (b) instructs students on how to use them, (c) informs students of their importance, and (d) encourages and monitors their use.'
"The School Board, in its capacity as a provider of transportation for students, is acting as a 'common carrier'. The State General Statutes require them to 'use the utmost care consistent with the nature of its business to guard its passengers against all dangers which might reasonably and naturally be expected to occur, in view of all the circumstances.' [Has Arizona such a provision? Are school buses considered common carriers in Arizona? Two points that need research.--S.L.] The legal opinion added that this 'includes the duty to protect passengers who are unable to protect themselves.' 'Thus, at some point in the near future it may be the case that a common carrier fails to meet its duty by not installing seat belts in buses'" (Anonymous summary of legal opinion; anonymous because each state has different laws, says the NCSSB Manual, p. 132.)
See Appendix F ("Legal Opinions and Liabilities") for more details.
Appendix G is entitled "Guidelines to Seatbelt Implementation".
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CONCLUSION
School boards have been avoiding the seatbelt issue, since there is no federal seatbelt requirement. But minimal compliance with requirements has an educational analog: To avoid flunking, students do just enough to get a "D."
I think it is fair to rate school districts as "D performers," when they resort to the minimum-federal-requirement argument, in defense of their inaction in implementing a seatbelt program. If districts progress to thinking that seatbelts are a good idea, but do nothing about it, they rate a C-, at best. If they seriously study how to implement a seatbelt program, and intend to have one as soon as possible, I'd give them a C+. If they have seatbelts in most buses, but 24-inch seatback heights, they rate no better than a B-. Only if they 1) have seatbelts and high-backed seats (28-inch, "New York") in all buses (which are all post-April-1977 in manufacture), 2) have well established seatbelt-related education programs, and 3) help others in their efforts to have a working seatbelt program for their school buses, would I rate the district as an A+ performer. What sort of education does your school system offer? Is its stance on seatbelts a good "barometer"?
The happy side of such a grading system is that it is really quite easy for a district to decide "to improve its grade." All it has to do is to set reasonable seatbelt goals, and to follow through and implement a vigorous seatbelt program as quickly as possible.
Such a program might include a decision to request more funds from taxpayers, but (in my opinion) if more funds are needed, a district should first establish an escrow fund, into which parents of children currently in the public-school system can contribute funds "to belt a kid." Perhaps, if taxpayers were to see that current schoolchildren's parents were actually doing something for themselves, they might be more inclined to help fund such programs, via such support as an override election.
This Primer is intended, in part, to convince Amphi Board members to install seatbelts on school buses now. But, the lack of seatbelts in school buses is a nationwide problem, not Amphi's, alone. Amphi Board members still have the opportunity to be leaders in the national effort to put seatbelts on all school buses.
Carol Fast summed up Coalition for Child Safety's position, in favor of seatbelts in all of this nation's school buses, when she said:
p. 22: "Parents have become acutely aware of the absence of belts in large buses. Their children are the end users of the buses. They will not give up on this issue, for this is not a fad -- any more than infant restraint usage laws were a fad" (From School Bus Fleet / June--July 1984, "A Misleading Safety Record," Carol Fast [Founder of NCSSB]).
The lead editorial in the 13 March 1985 Phoenix Gazette says " ... that when the rhetorical smoke subsides, the victory belongs to those who have fought for the installation of seatbelts on school buses." I hope that's true!
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[Index]
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I thank Laura Rubbo -- the activist parent who several years ago success fully convinced Catalina Foothills School District #16 (of the greater Tucson, Arizona, area) to adopt a seatbelt program -- for her avid support of Coalition for Child Safety's efforts.
John I. Goss (Director of District Operations, Marana Unified Schools) also has provided CCS with extremely helpful insights, encouragement, and information, for which I am continuingly grateful.
Sue Ziesmer Trinacty has offered CCS the use of her Sunshine School (preschool, Oro Valley, Arizona), for our meetings. She has also provided extremely valuable guidance, as an objective critic of various of CCS's ideas. Students in her preschool class have drawn delightful pictures, which could be used on placards, in support of seatbelts on school buses; those decorate the back sides of some pages in this Primer. I thank Sue for her insightful support.
Kudos to my wife, Joann K. Nakagawa, for her help with formatting and printing this Primer ... but especially for her valuable colleagueship and friendship. Even more importantly, I thank her for providing my motivation for doing this work, which is embodied in the personage of Jenifer Kiku Langford, our fun daughter [now (April 2005) at Dartmouth College; SL].
[Return to Home Page ] [Title Page ] [Preface to 1996 Edition ] [About the Author ] [Foreword to 1990 Edition ] [Table of Contents ] [Appendix A. Compartmentalization ] [Appendix B. TRB Special Report 222, May 1989 ] [Appendix C. Endorsements ] [Appendix D. Testimonials ] [Appendix E. Studies and Recommendations ] [Appendix F. Legalities ] [Appendix G. Guidelines to Seatbelt Implementation] [INDEX ] [Related Sites ]
©Stephen A. Langford, Oro Valley, Arizona, 7 September 1996. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This document may be freely transmitted in its entirety, so long as no monies are earned during the transaction/s. Permission is required for any and all other pertinent circumstances. ---------------------------------- page break ---------------------------------- (Metering for this page begun 3 September 1996.)
