BROWSE CAR REVIEWS BY:
MAKE
MODEL
Click on a car body type for search results.
 |
 |
| SUVs (two rows) | SUVs (three rows) |
 |
 |
| Crossover | Minivans |
 |
 |
| Sedan | Hybrids |
 |
 |
| Wagons/Hatchbacks | Just for Fun |
Are Little Kids Safe on a Big Yellow Bus?
Oct 08 2007 by Sara Lacey
10/8/2007
Bus-Driving Guru Eases Parental Concerns
My first-born started kindergarten this year, and nothing freaked me out more than putting my itty bitty kiddo on that giant school bus. I revisited this “freak attack” recently when he went on his first field trip, which included an hour on the bus each way. In an effort to calm my nerves, I figured I’d put in a call to some people in the industry. I got referred to Bill Flinchbaugh, also known as the Car Seat Guy. Not only is Bill the Car Seat Guy, he’s also an auto mechanic, car seat designer, bus driver and bus driver trainer. He had the experience I needed to be talked down from my ledge.
My first question to Bill was one other ledge-walking parents have asked me at the bus stop: Why aren’t there seat belts on school buses? According to Bill, there are lots of reasons.
“The most important, even though it may not be the most obvious, is evacuation,” he said. In the event of an accident, he said, there wouldn’t be enough adults on the bus to get to each child, unbuckle them and get them out. Think about the kids who were evacuated off the bus when the bridge in Minnesota collapsed this summer; one wonders whether the driver and counselor could have gotten all those kids off as quickly as they did had all the children been belted in.
So how is a school bus considered safe? Bus seats are designed like egg cartons, using compartmentalization, Bill said. Instead of belts, the seats are designed with more padding on the backs so that in the event of a collision children will bounce into the cushioned seat in front of them, but be contained. If there were lap belts on the bus, the child’s bottom would be harnessed in but the torso would not, possibly resulting in head and neck injuries. Essentially, the belts would cause worse injuries than the ones they’d prevent.
Perhaps the most comforting thing Bill said was that school buses are the safest vehicles on the road. Why? Because they’re big and yellow? Well, yes, but also because the regular routes they take mean drivers expect the bus to be there; they anticipate it. School bus drivers are also very specifically trained and subject to beheading if they behave in an unsafe manner. OK, maybe not beheading, but the penalties for driving violations are much greater for school bus drivers. Plus, those buses are safe thanks to those design issues.
Because we’re parents and are concerned for our kids, it’s hard not to be curious about what it would take to put seat belts in school buses (minus the cost of a sentinel posted at each row to unbuckle the munchkins). The average life span of a fleet of buses is 10 years. Retrofitting each seat costs roughly $500, so that’s a hefty deterrent for already cash-strapped school districts. Newer buses do have restraints, but mostly just in the first few rows for kids who still need car seats, or for special-needs kids (so the driver can unbuckle them in an emergency).
Either way, buses really are the safest mode of transportation for our kids. I’m so relieved to have talked to Bill; hopefully now my panic attacks at the bus stop are history.
Wow! What a wealth of info Bill is. Thanks for filling us in, Sara.