Schools

Patch Readers: Maryland School Buses Should Have Seatbelts

A crash Friday in Stevenson, Baltimore County, left a school bus on its side, and injured five Pikesville Middle School students and a bus driver.

A school bus crash Friday in Stevenson sent six people to hospitals Friday morning, and some Pikesville area parents say Baltimore County Public Schools should settle for no less than buses with seat belts.

In the single-vehicle crash, five Pikesville Middle School students and the driver of the Woodlawn Motorcoach bus were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, a spokeswoman for Baltimore County Public Schools said.

As of 2:25 p.m. Friday, the cause of the crash is unknown, according to a tweet by Baltimore County police and fire.

While there were only minor injuries, the bus did turn onto its side after it left the roadway, and some area parents think having seat belts in all school buses would help keep students safe.

Currently, the large school buses in the county don't have seatbelts, said Baltimore County Public Schools spokeswoman Diana Spencer. However, small ones do, although there are only a few of those.

"It's terrible what had happened this morning in Stevenson," Patch reader Victoria Minkov said on Pikesville Patch's Facebook page Friday afternoon. "I think having seat belts on buses is a good idea."

She added that Maryland should follow other states' lead in requiring them.

A Stevenson resident and father of two whose Facebook handle is Jon B. Good, said school buses should have seat belts.

Read more comments on Pikesville Patch's Facebook page.


However, the National Academy of Sciences concluded in 1989 that "the potential benefits of requiring seat belts on large school buses were insufficient to justify a federal mandate for installation," according to a May 2006 report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The safety administration deferred comment to other organizations.

A study by the National Transportation Board came to a similar conclusion, the report states. All smaller school buses, under 10,000 pounds or less, are required to have seat belts.

These days, some states, including California and Texas, do require seat belts on large buses—like the one in the Stevenson crash Friday—according to a 2012 report by the National Conference of State Legislators.

The safety administration report states that school bus travel is one of the safest modes of transportation. Large buses "Are heavier and distribute crash forces differently than do passenger cars and light trucks."

School bus passengers feel less force during similar crashes, it states. "Compartmentalization" on buses—how seating is arranged closely, with strong, impact-absorbing seating, protects passengers as well.

However, if parents begin to use other, less safe modes of transportation to get their kids to school, there is a greater risk of injury for students, it states. 

Therefore, the safety administration recommends that states consider "the increased capital costs, reduced seating capacities, and other unintended consequences associated with seat belts that could result in more children seeking alternative means of traveling to and from school or school-related events."

Read more about the crash in Stevenson:

Middle Schoolers Call Parents from Scene of Overturned School Bus

5 Children, 1 Adult, Injured in Overturned School Bus

What do you think? Should our local governments choose to install safety belts in its large school buses?





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