Seat
Belts Save Lives
It is a known fact that seat belts save lives. This
is why almost every state has made buckling up in automobiles,
whether adults or children, a law. The only exception
is in the school bus. NHTSA research(1)
indicates that lap-shoulder belts, in every vehicle
in which they have ever been introduced, reduce injuries
and fatalities by 45 percent.
According to 2005 data from NHTSA, an average of 21
school age children die in school transportation-related
traffic crashes each year. This number applies only
to daily school routes and does not account for extracurricular
activities that take place outside of normal school
hours.
Injury Prevention
Since different organizations have their own ways of
reporting, tracking and calculating school bus accidents
and injuries, it is difficult to know how many children
are actually injured in school bus accidents. We do
know, however, that lap-shoulder belts can make a significant
impact on injury reduction.
- According to the April 2002 NHTSA Report to Congress,
every day there are over 144 school bus accidents
(26,000 per year) in America and more than 9,500 children
are injured in school bus accidents each year.
- According to the American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP), there were an estimated 51,100 school bus-related
injuries treated in US emergency departments from
2001 to 2003, which averages to approximately 17,000
children injured in school bus accidents each year.
Education
Children are taught to buckle-up in an automobile at
a very early age. Unfortunately the educational impact
of buckling up is lost when children ride the school
bus with no lap–shoulder belts. This is an excellent
educational opportunity to reinforce the seat belt message
that starts when a child leaves the hospital in a child
safety seat.
In the past ten years 68,000 young teens have died
in automobile accidents. More than half of those teens
were not wearing seat belts. Not only does seat belt
education have the potential to save lives of school
children, but also of young teens who become drivers.
Parent Demand
Each time a serious school bus accident occurs in the
US, the decades-old debate about seat belts is revived.
Parents ask why, since their children are required to
wear seat belts in passenger vehicles from infancy,
they are completely unrestrained when using school transportation.
According to an independently conducted 2006 marketing
study sponsored by the American School Bus Council (ABSC),
80 percent of parents believe school buses should be
equipped with lap-shoulder belts.
Children Can Evacuate
Children are less likely to be injured in a bus accident
when they are wearing restraints. A properly restrained
child who has not been injured can release himself and
evacuate more quickly than one who requires a stretcher
for evacuation. Buckles are designed and tested to unlatch
with the push of a button, even in a bus rollover.
Behavior Solution
Behavior problems on today's buses include children
being out of their seat, walking in the aisle, kneeling
on the seat and facing backwards – all forms of
misuse of the standard FMVSS 222 seat. When children
are facing forward, belted in their seats, the driver
can pay attention to the road instead of being distracted
by the children.
Safest Form of Transportation
on the Road
School buses are the safest form of transportation on
the road, and traveling in a school bus equipped with
SafeGuard FlexSeat should enhance the safety record.
Protects Unbelted Children
If a child is not restrained in a lap–shoulder
belt and the bus is involved in a frontal crash, the
SafeGuard seat offers full compartmentalization protection.
This Federal Standard mandates the school bus seat have
heavily padded seat backs that are designed to absorb
the passenger's energy in frontal impacts.
(1). The Facts to Buckle Up America – Safety Belts
and Teens 2003 Report, DOT HS 809 578
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