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Bill would make seat belts standard on school buses

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BY JoANNE YOUNG / Lincoln Journal Star

Tuesday, Mar 11, 2008 - 08:32:21 pm CDT

It’s been argued for years.

Is it safer to belt kids into school buses? Or are they safe just the way they are in buses built to “compartmentalize” them in well-anchored seats with high backs and good padding, with wide aisles and the ability to absorb energy when kids are crashing around?

Sen. John Harms of Scottsbluff argued Tuesday for the seat belts. And 32 other senators agreed, advancing a bill (LB1092) that would require school districts to buy buses with seat belts as they add to their fleets.

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Compartmentalization, Harms said, is overrated.

Senators didn’t seem to need too much convincing about the safety issue, but they did have questions about the cost to school districts and how a district decides which kids get to ride in the buses with and without seat belts during the years they have both.

Some of the senators were concerned about yet another unfunded mandate for districts – the thing their constituents seem to fuss about most.

Harms estimated that seat belts could add up to $10,000 to the price of a new school bus, which already cost more than $60,000.

Property tax payers would likely foot the bill for the increased costs.

An attempt by Sen. Arnie Stuthman of Platte Center to have the state appropriate funds for new seat belt-equipped buses was defeated on an 8-23 vote.

The bill would require school districts to begin buying buses with seat belts in 2010, but Harms said he will consider changing that to 2012 for the second round of debate to make sure schools get the latest and best technology.

Every student would be required to wear a seat belt, and bus drivers would check before pulling out to make sure each child is buckled in and belts are correctly adjusted. The driver would not be held responsible, however, for kids unbuckling after that.

Districts would be required to give students instruction on proper use of seat belts twice a year.

The bill would not change liability of a district for an injury caused by failure to use belts or misuse of belts, or for districts that continued to use older buses not equipped with belts.

Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop, an attorney, said the school districts would have protection with the bill. Eventually, he said, there will be another bad bus crash, and not having seat belts would expose those districts to liability.

“This is proactive,” he said. “It minimizes liability.”

Senators defeated an amendment on a 23-21 vote that would have added private, parochial and denominational schools to the requirement for seat belts in buses.

Sen. Chris Langemeier of Schuyler asked where parochial schools would get the money for the buses.

Langemeier also questioned how students would be protected from flying objects in overhead racks – such as heavy band instruments – during a crash.

Nebraska had seven fatal school bus crashes and 216 injury crashes in the 11-year period between 1993 and 2003, according to the Nebraska Department of Roads.

Three students and a parent died as the result of a crash in Douglas County in 2001, when a bus carrying Seward High School band members crashed through a guardrail and fell 49 feet into a shallow creek below.

One survivor of the Seward bus crash – Tait Rief – testified earlier at the hearing in favor of Harms’ bill.

Rief said he and others in the bus who weren’t prepared for the crash or not strong enough to adequately brace themselves became human missiles. They suffered broken arms, hips, legs and pelvises; cuts; bruises; scrapes and internal injuries from banging into each other and into the bus.

Reif had a head injury, and his medical expenses have reached nearly $1.5 million, he said. He has lost short-term memory, independence, the ability to work for an income and friendships.

“It’s time we correct this issue,” Harms said during Tuesday’s debate.

When the bill comes back for second-round debate, he said, it will define better what is meant by “new” buses, and it will clarify best practices for student training and guidelines for purchasing buses.

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.


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Nina wrote on March 11, 2008 6:13 pm:
" Seat belts for all and a videocam in each bus, too, so the driver can keep all his/her attention on the road, and kids' behavior can be recorded, so the parents who claim their little darlings wouldn't do what some do, can see it in living color. Many years ago, I was a school bus driver for a short while, and consider it the most challenging job I ever had, to discipline and drive at the same time. "

 unfunded mandate! wrote on March 11, 2008 11:39 pm:
" Can you say another unfunded mandate. First they tell school districts that they can't use passenger vans (which all had seatbelts in them) to transport kids, so all the schools have to buy new SUV's to replace the vans. Now they're being told they need to replace their buses by 2012. Who pay's for these--not the state. No, we the taxpayers will see our property taxes rise again to pay for this. Apparently the $12,000 salary that the legislative members get is enough to pay for each of these tax increases that they can handily pass of on us. WHEN will it stop? "

 parent of future bus rider wrote on March 12, 2008 8:29 am:
" I personally would be willing to pay a little more to know that the future of this country are being protected. Can we really put a price on our children's safety? This is long over-due. Pass it now and make it so any new buses must have them. Why wait more years to make it go into effect? How many more accidents and injuries have to happen? "

 Mike wrote on March 12, 2008 8:45 am:
" This is really a no-brainer. Put the belt in now, put off some other fluff like replacing perfectly good textbooks, getting new laptops for administrators, less trips to "conferences" until it's paid for. The people killed in the Seward bus crash would be here today if they had been belted in. "

 stat man wrote on March 12, 2008 9:34 am:
" This is a no-brainer, DO NOT put seat belts in school buses. Children will be much more likely to be hurt by seatbelts than saved. According to the National Association for Pupil Transportation, children are more likely to be killed when riding in someone's car than on a school bus on the way to school. And remember, these are kids we're talking about, they will misuse the seat belts since they're uncomfortable, the belts won't fit the smaller kids, and the bullies will find creative ways to hurt others by hitting or strangling them. Let's keep our kids safe and keep seat belts out of our school buses. "

 Think again wrote on March 12, 2008 9:48 am:
" This is feel good legislation. I want Harms and the rest of the representatives to go work in the sun from 7 in the morning until 7 at night in Omaha. Afterwards, get in a bus and put a seat belt on to travel to Scottsbluff or Gering or Chadron. You can't lie down in the bus to sleeep. Instead, you get belted into a high, straight back seat until you arrive at home at 4 in the morning. Afterwards, tell me how great an idea this is.
I have put many miles on a bus in my life. in the 38 years of teaching and coaching, I was never in a bus accident. Just figure an average of 30 bus rides a year ranging from 15 miles to 450 miles.
I have ridden with good drivers and ones who were falling asleep. The number one cause of accidents is the driver making bad decisions. Check the road conditions, get off the cell phones, quit eating while driving, and pay attention to the road. "

 joe taxpayer wrote on March 12, 2008 9:52 am:
" Another unfunded mandate is right... State keeps telling schools that pending state aid cuts are not cuts, they are just cuts in the projected increases.... Yeah, right. Then they pass on more mandates which eat up any supposed state aid increases (but they never tell you that...), so the net take is a loss. They also say teacher salaries are the responsibility of local school boards, who are at the mercy of state spending lids and state tax tax lids! In every neighboring state, the STATE is increasing teacher pay, not the local boards. By next year, NEBR schools could be the most underfunded by a state in the nation. But we'll have seat belts in busses, by gawd.... "

 parent of students wrote on March 12, 2008 10:34 am:
" Amen!! I would love to see seatbelts in buses for those students who choose to use them. We preach to our children they can not ride in a car without a seatbelt, but allow them to ride without one in a bus.

To unfunded mandate: I do agree changes are needed with SUVs and now buses that will cost money? But what about the cost of lives? What is a child's life worth? The price of an SUV or a new bus?- ask the Seward parents or family of the mother who died, how much is too much to get their child and/or mother back. Safety should be our first priority - not - at what price!

I also believe in video cameras in all buses!! "

 Buddha wrote on March 12, 2008 12:20 pm:
" There is no research to back up the logic behind this bill. Matter of fact, there is apparently research that backs up the opposite logic of what this bill is doing. I think it's time the senators stop kow-towing to sentiment and listen to the research. I've spent many hours on a school bus, and trust me, you have some serious ergonomics to think about when you buckle those kids into those rigid upright seats! "

 Snowflake wrote on March 12, 2008 1:11 pm:
" I always thought seatbelts should be used on buses, but now I'm hesitant. I envision kids using them to slap other kids (or worse). Probably not such a good idea. "

 Am I bad? wrote on March 12, 2008 4:30 pm:
" Okay I looked up some stats--There are 10.27 children a year killed in school bus accidents in the entire United States, meanwhile there are 646.7 children killed each year while being driven to school by parents or driving themselves. I don't want to put a price on a child who is killed, but what about those killed in an automobile. We already have seatbelts in the cars, but it doesn't seem to be working. It seems to me that it is much safer to be in a school bus with or without seatbelts, than it is to be in a car, so I propose that the Unicam spend its time coming up with legislation saying that it shall be illegal for parents or students to drive their children to school. I agree with un-funded mandate that this will do nothing to improve safety on our buses, just another expense passed on to school districts that are already trying to balance the budgets that they have. "

 Xiphos6 wrote on March 12, 2008 4:57 pm:
" Make sure that each seat belt has an interconnect with the ignition - so that when one of the little passengers takes his/her belt off and the bus is not in PARK - the bus will coast to a stop! And make sure that each parent signs a release of liablity so that if their kid is hrt on a bus that is equipped with seat belts - they won't sue anybody! Feel good is right - won't work in the real world. "

 BYOB wrote on March 16, 2008 11:07 am:
" We all lived through it, buses without seat belts are safer than mom & dad driving the kids around town and with fuel prices up we are lucky to have enough gas to drive these major gas hogs at all. You all sit back and cry like babies when L.P.S. wants more money then you bleeding hart morons want L.P.S. to spend $10,000 per school bus all in the name of kids safety, yes, the kids who won't wear them anyway. You all need to get out of the Clinton era, it's not about the children, it's about getting through this recession in one peice. Wake up people, we don't have the time or recources for your petty pork barrel projects, Just go away till the recession is over. "

 Michelle wrote on March 18, 2008 5:28 am:
" I want to know how many bus drivers would be fired for having an accident and not all students are in their seat belts. Will we fund another person on board to monitor each seat to verify they haven't been unbuckled? Also, in case of an accident, would the driver be held responsible for children possibly dying in a burning bus when the driver has to go through and unbuckle nearly 70 younger student? "

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