November 8, 1996


President Clinton
Office of the President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As the mother of a first-grader, I had no good answer when my
son, Matthew, came home after the first day of school and asked
why school buses do not have seat belts.

I raised that question at the first P.T.A. meeting and was told
that the seats on the school bus were padded, which allegedly
eliminates the need for seatbelts. After looking further into
the issue, I have learned that the padded seats, which is called
"compartmentalization," have been added to new buses since 1977.
However, there is insufficient data which proves that
compartmentalization works. The "data" in this case is the
number of children's deaths. As a parent, I am appalled that we
are experimenting with our children's lives. Furthermore, the
data thus far shows that compartmentalization appears only to
work for front end crashes. Most bus crashes are side or rear
crashes or front-end crashes resulting in roll-overs.

Regardless of whether or not there is sufficient data to support
the effectiveness of compartmentalization, there are other
compelling reasons for having seatbelts on buses.

      1) Studies have shown that seatbelts on buses solve bus
     discipline problems since all students are confined to their
     seats. I should add that it has been found that the tall
     seats used for compartmentalization encourages students to
     stand up and bend over the seats to talk to their friends.
     If there is a crash, the students will be thrown from their
     seats, negating any potential safety benefits from
     compartmentalization.

     2) By not having seatbelts on buses, we are participating
     in "negative educational' That is, we are benignly telling
     kids that seatbelts aren't as important as parents say they
     are. Consider that from the time of birth, parents put
     their babies in car seats and make children buckle up. All
     of this training is undone during the first day of school!
     What will happen when our children become teenagers and
     start driving? Consider that traffic deaths is currently
     the number one killer of children and young adults.

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     3) Seatbelts on school buses are endorsed by the
     American Academy of Pediatricians, the American Academy
     of Orthopaedic surgeons, the American Medical
     Association, and the National P.T.A., among many others.

As a fellow parent, would you be comfortable allowing Chelsea to
ride on a school bus without seatbelts? I am uncomfortable every
day sending my son off on the school bus. According to NHTSA, in
a typical year 10 children are killed and 9500 school bus
passengers are injured every year on school buses.

What do we need to do to get legislation mandating seatbelts on
all school buses? I am asking for your help. (I have also
attached a copy of a report "Seatbelts for Schoolbuses.")

                           Sincerely,

                                      [Signature]

                           Darleen M. DiGirolamo
                           705 Berrymans Lane
                           Reisterstown, Maryland 21136
                           [Telephone number withheld by request.]

CC:
Vice President Gore
Mrs. Clinton
Mrs. Gore

That is the kind of action which, when done independently by many people, can change even wrongheaded governmental policies in the United States of America -- even still, I pray. What will YOU do to help?

                                --[Steve Langford], 22 November 1996

[Return to Home Page ] [Title Page ] [Preface to 1996 Edition ] [About the Author ] [Foreword to 1990 Edition ] [Table of Contents ] [Main Body ] [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, 1 February 1997.  
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  
This document may be freely transmitted in its entirety, 
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(Metering for this page begun 1 February 1997.)