Seat Belts On School Buses

Seat belts on school buses has become a contentious issue, are they going to put seatbelts on school buses?

Since the 1980s school buses have been fitted with a built-in "passive restraint system" meaning nothing has to be switched on to activate the system.

Compartmentalization as it's called is the heavily padded seats and seat backs that protect the passenger from injury which has been rigorously tested and found to be 16 times safer {according to Transport Canada} than travelling in any other vehicle including the family car.

If you're wondering why the bus driver has an over the shoulder 3 point seatbelt: The driver needs to be restrained in case of an accident because he has no padding to deflect the impact of an accident. There is nothing but glass and steel in the driver's compartment.

Seat belts on school buses would require testing and monitoring by extra staff as well as a warning system [my guess]to indicate an unbuckled seatbelt. I wouldn't be surprised [just my opinion] if an interlock system was engineered to interupt the engine from starting if a seatbelt was not buckled.

Note: There's already starter interlocks on emergency windows and doors if they are not securely closed.

So "are they going to put seatbelts on school buses?" my guess is someday because of public opinion and the fact that seatbelts have saved so many lives already, that's a fact. We can't hide from the facts so I personally feel it will happen but not right away.

Seatbelts on school buses is open for debate and will be for a long time. Safety has always been a top priority and since the public support the school system, then it will depend on public opinion what will happen next.