It’s Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. The pumpkin pies are in the oven, but my heart is aching for families in Tennessee who sent their precious little ones off to school only to have them wind up in hospital rooms or ICUs or morgues. My heart is hurting for all those families—including the bus driver and his family. Because even if the driver was speeding and/or driving recklessly, what happened isn’t his fault. It’s ours! All of our faults.
When I lived in Phoenix, my kids went to a school at the end of the block. They walked there and back. They didn’t have to ride school buses. And when I lived in Bisbee as a school girl, I walked to and from school as well. No buses there, either.
When I arrived in Seattle and lived in the Denny Regrade, I encountered the Seattle Public School District’s Voluntary Busing program. It was only voluntary in that the school district signed up for it voluntarily rather than being forced to comply with a court order, but it was not voluntary for kids or their parents. Your kid got on a bus and went wherever the school district said.
I believe in seat-belts. My kids wore seat-belts when they rode in my vehicle. They still do and would do so even without the Click it or Ticket jingles designed to remind us that not wearing a seatbelt is against the law. They wore seat-belts long before there were mandatory rules that said infants in car seat and children up to certain ages had to ride in the back seats of vehicles. (Driving with an infant crying inconsolably in the backseat is a teeth gnashing proposition sometimes, but those are the rules, and the rules save lives.)
So it was a big shock to me when I learned that when my kids got on buses to go from downtown Seattle to their new elementary school down in the Rainier Valley, that there were no seat-belts on the buses. I immediately went to see someone at the school district and expressed my concern. She sat behind her desk and told me with a perfectly straight face that seat-belts weren’t necessary because “our buses don’t go that fast.” Since the route traveled took the bus up and down the I-5 corridor in rush hour traffic, that was then (thirty years ago) and still is the God’s truth. After all, no one on I-5 can go fast during rush hour in ANY DIRECTION!
The problem is, it’s more than thirty years later and school buses STILL don’t have seat-belts. Or airbags. Or any of the other things that make people safer and are REQUIRED!!! in other vehicles, and I’m sitting here today wondering WHY THE HELL NOT???!!! The hauntingly nightmarish idea of having those poor little ones being smashed around and bounced off all those desperately hard surfaces makes me sick to my stomach.
Some of the possible reasons why school buses still don’t have seatbelts? For one thing, installing seatbelts would reduce the number of people who could be crammed into any given bus. Right. One seatbelt per passenger. That means, if you run out of seatbelts you run out of room. In that case, the district either needs to pony up for more buses or make additional trips.
It would be inordinately expensive. How inordinately expensive is it to lose a single child? And maybe that’s true—maybe the start up costs would be steep, but here’s an idea: Why not start a brand new American industry—retrofitting all the schoolbuses we have now with seatbelts. That single infrastructure safety correction should be worth several thousand household supporting jobs!
One article I read mentioned that kids might be injured by some bully kid riding on a bus and wielding a “heavy seatbelt buckle” as a weapon. That’s a potential problem—a possible one. But here’s a real one: Those kids in Tennessee have lost their lives or have been gravely injured because they were traveling in a bus without being belted in. As for that would be bully? Kids who misbehave on buses—including slamming other kids while using seatbelt buckles as weapons no longer get to ride on school buses. Period. Their transportation problems are suddenly their parental units’ transportation problems.
As citizens of this country we are required—by the government—to have and use seatbelts in our passenger vehicles. Shouldn’t branches of government—namely school districts—be required to do the same?
America is supposed to be government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and it’s high time we held someone’s feet to the fire.
Exactly…
Agreed. Everything about this whole event is a crying shame, including the drivers mother saying it was God’s will…
May I also say I love it that you, unlike so many others, actually use your blog and update it regularly. It is sad so many formerly prolific blogs now sit fallow.
True to form, the first response from most school districts is the cost is prohibitive. It’s always about money with schools isn’t it? A piece on the CBS National News recently said the cost is estimated to be about $7000.00 per bus to retrofit with “two point” belts. (like automobile belts initially) I was mentioned that three pint belts like are now mandated in cars, would cost more but at the very least, there needs to be a national law that all new buses be equipped with the safest three point belt system possible.
Agreed! We over protect our kids by not letting them walk to school and then put them in a metal box with no safety restraints! I remember walking to and from school as a youngster — in all kinds of weather too. This was East Coast suburbia. When I got to high school had to ride the bus as the new high school was miles out in the country. Bunches of us were crammed in, 3-4 in each seat and 2×2 or more standing all down the aisle. Fortunately we never got into an accident — but wow, what a disaster it would have been!
Thank you for bringing this us. Years ago I worked with a woman who refused to allow her kids to be transported to camps, outings, etc in school busses because of that very reason. She drove her kids. Never thought about it in the 60s and 70s for my daughter but really watched out for my grandchildren. No busses until high school. I cannot understand all the dragging of feet. With all the money spent on education, federal interference, funding, etc., this should have been resolved rs ago. School districts around me contract out to bus companies. Those companies should be in compliance.
Absolutely! I have been saying this for years!
If they had just started requiring new buses to have seat belts all those years ago and not even required retrofitting our children would be a lot safer today. Why can’t we at lease start with that now?
I agree. I felt the same as you do/did 30-some years ago when Seattle school’s grand busing experiment failed (everybody who possibly could moved out of Seattle schools or enrolled their kids in private schools). I was a poor single parent and did not have any option, but I felt as you do that children even more than adults need seat belts in school buses.
Was told “not cost effective” since bus accidents so rare. An outrage then, 35 years ago, and ever more so now.
So right on! I’ve always wondered why they weren’t required.
So relevant and so right on! It makes me wonder what we can do now instead of waiting to work through bureaucracy to have something happen. This should be something the community gets involved in right away rather than just the parents who have children in school . It is just that important! No child should be put at risk like that. Even though this should be regulated by the government in the same way that seat belts in cars are regulated, I think we need to start now to get something taken care of instead of waiting. Schools have fundraisers for field trips and other activities for the children. Why not have fundraisers that take care of retrofitting existing buses while pushing regulation to have new buses properly outfitted with seatbelts. I feel very strongly on this! I have eight grandchildren and I certainly don’t want to see any child whether mine or someone else has put at risk like that
Pro cyclists, baseball players. Each group resisted helmets. Now neither group would think of doing without. Maybe this tragedy will finally get the job done.
A friend of mine and her husband ran a seat belt business. They went all over the country trying to sell seat belts for the buses to school districts. Then had very little luck doing so, if any. Sickening.
I’ve been yelling about this for years and I homeschooled my kids (not for this reason, although had I known, it might have been). It is simply unconscionable. My heart breaks for those families. Let’s give this one a shot at trying to change the system. Hopefully, we can be more successful than we have been in other areas…
You write what I feel. I can’t say what I mean any better than you can. The rules seems to be BE SAFE IF SOMEONE ELSE PAYS…. That’s unacceptable to us. There is no budget when it comes to children’s lives. The rumors about the bus driver is just that rumors. We seem to believe the worst of people BEFORE WE KNOW THE FACTS..
I sure hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving. I cooked and was very disappointed in the job I did.. Next year we are going out. I spent so much on the ingredients WE could have gone to San Francisco ‘s Fairmont TOP OF THE MARK. Lol … Best Holiday Wishes Jan
Australia requires seat belts in buses, guess the government cares more about safety.
Amen!
A law passed in Texas requiring new buses to have seatbelts, pending funding! The 10 million dollars was only for seatbelts on new buses in districts that had high number of crashes on high speed two lane roads and did not cover the cost of the buses. Small districts only buy new buses about every 5 years and do not have grant writers. Large school districts who do buy buses regularly and who can afford to have someone writing grants don’t have many high speed two lanes so the do not qualify not much of the money was spent and it was never allocated again. But Texas has a law requiring….. good for us. That will really help in the next bus crash.
I asked the same question to a friend who just retired as a school bus driver.
Her answer is as follows: “… the reason school buses do not have seat belts is because studies have been done to show that school buses are the safest way to travel, over and above personal cars, trains, planes, boats and everything else. School buses are built to protect the riders, seats are tall and padded to keep them contained, bus frames are made to withstand tipping or flipping upon impact. They’ve determined that the risk of having children either injure one another with the buckles or not being able to evacuate a bus fast enough with all the children far out weighs what could happen with children not buckled. We did an evacuation drill with drivers and fog. It is frightening – in just seconds the bus filled with fog to the point none of us could see. In the incidents where children are injured or hurt, studies have shown those accidents are so bad that seat belts would have done little or nothing to prevent injuries or death. They want to be able to get kids off a bus fast.”
My only comment is that having seat belts MIGHT help in evacuating a bus and making sure that all children are accounted for because there would only be a certain number of children in each seat. But, that is countered by the consideration that panicked children, drivers and/or aides (*if* there is one), might not be able to unfasten the seat belt easily and quickly to aid in evacuating the bus.
My friend was a school bus driver for 30 years. Back then and now the reason she what given was if the bus was flipped upside down the children could be strangled by the belts. Hence no belts. Maybe a second person is much cheaper. We have co-pilots why not co-drivers.
Strangled by a seat belt?! Odd belts.
A bus accident 2003 somewhat close to me “40miles”.
6 dead, because they did not use seatbelts that the bus had.
Icy road, not fast driving, but the bus went off the road and tumbled to its side.
Well, something needs to be started outside the Federal Govt. as the NEW School Head Honcho is a STRONG believer in school vouchers so parents can send kids to private schools!!!! She’s VERY rich & won’t even consider that some parents even with vouchers won’t be able to afford private schools!!!!
NOTHING to do with the Election?!? But OF COURSE it does — Either opposition against the notion that “Government” must mandate every little detail of life with “politically correct” solutions! Or, that the problem is that the “Americans” who voted rather heavily this last time (even though a real minority) don’t believe in any analysis or rational solutions unless promoted by extreme bombast and vulgar assertion (and Fox News).
Take your pick. But truly, it’s all about political choices, public engagement at every level — whether you view society as making us stronger and safer together or simply a drag on your freedom to take advantage of stupider or less self-directed, or to be a bad driver.
As others, some of whom also probably voted this election in rather foolish ways for foolish reasons, might say: “Lord Help Us!”
I have always thought it was a crazy idea that school buses don’t need seat belts. Of course they do! I live in the country and these buses travel 65 MPH on a two lane highway to get to town! Additionally, I think it’s nuts to expect a lone driver to be able to watch and control a bus filled with children. My heart and prayers go out to the families of those little ones.
It is not my fault that this happened. A tragedy,, it was, but I and most people, including you, could not have prevented it. My point is, I’m tired of “we could have prevented it.”
When I rode a bus to high school in Iowa over 50 years ago, there were governors on the bus engines that kept them from speeding. No seat belts, but no vehicles had them at the time. From what I’ve read about this recent accident, the bus driver was speeding and lost control. I don’t know what we can do except speak out.
Drove a school bus for 7 yrs, starting in 1979. Guess what? No one listens to the experienced trained expert school bus drivers, either. Not even those harping for three decades on the issue of simple transportation safety….seat belts for every child. And yes, via observation as a professionally trained driver….more and more school bus drivers are speeding to keep up with schedules.
Maybe if there is a lawsuit by the parents against the bus company and school district and they were force to pay out $millions then $7K per bus is a bargain.
The Head Start program which is over 50 years old is funded by the federal government and mandates that all children are belted into their school bus seats. Our program in three Indiana counties ran seven buses all equipped with five-point harnesses which our 3-, 4-, and 5-year old children learned to get into and out of on their own or with help from the Bus Monitor. It’s all a matter of planning for the budget, folks! There’s absolutely NO valid reason why public school buses don’t have seatbelts! Expense is not a valid excuse–we’ve all seen wasted dollars in public school education!