Indiana Bus Crash Has Lawmakers Considering Seatbelt Requirements

This week we covered the story of an Indiana bus accident that involved over 100 school children and sent 30 kids to local hospitals with injuries. In the two-bus crash, one bus rear-ended another bus, sending it into a ditch at the side of the road. None of the children were wearing seat belts. Now school officials and state officials alike wonder whether this accident isn’t yet another sign that seat belts should be mandatory on Indiana school buses.

Those who believe that all school buses should have seat belts point to incidents like the one above, in which injuries could have been prevented if not for the lack of safety restraints on the vehicles. They also say that no wearing seat belts on their way to and from school goes against what parents and safety advocates have been teaching them since birth: it is dangerous to ride in a vehicle when you are not buckled up. Many are especially concerned about school bus rollover accidents, in which children who are not restrained will likely be subject to serious injury and death.

Opponents to mandatory seat belts in buses argue that school buses, with their slow speeds, heavy weights, and well-vetted drivers, are some of the safest vehicles on the road, and that statistics show that riding the school bus is historically the safest way to get to school and back. They also say that equipping school buses with seat belts would be a hefty cost for schools and taxpayers, with each bus costing $10,00 to $15,000 to fit with safety belts.

Currently in Indiana, about 3,330 school buses have seat belts, while 12,670 do not have seat belts. According to statistics, between 9,500 and 17,000 children are injured in school bus accidents each year, though only about two dozen are killed in school bus accidents annually.




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