Published: September 17, 2007 06:30 pm            

Seat belt law not clicking in Cleburne

Buses safer, less expensive without belts, director says

The Legislature wants to put seat belts in school buses, but whether that happens is another matter, a Cleburne ISD administrator said.

In May, the Legislature adopted a bill to put seat belts for passengers on all buses purchased after Sept. 1, 2010. The belts would be a three-point, over-the-shoulder system, like in a passenger car.

But some say the state would have to appropriate money — estimated about $580 million — for the upgrade.

Based on the cost and the work that would have to be done, the law may not ever be put into place, CISD director of transportation David Walker said.

“It’s not a viable option,” he said. “The downside is ... the cost is extreme.”

In CISD alone, the cost would be about $2 million, Walker said.

“It would be prohibitive,” he said.

Statistically, school buses are the safest form of transportation on the road, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration. According to a 2006 study, 42,000 people die in traffic accidents each year in the U.S. Six are passengers in school buses.

From numbers he’s seen, one student died in a school bus crash in Texas from 1999-2001. With 25 million students riding daily, that’s not a bad statistic, he said.

Buses use compartmentalization, which creates a safe impact zone within each seat compartment, Walker said.

“It’s still the safest form of transportation, by far,” he said.

The seat belt law stems from a 2006 accident in Beaumont, where a bus rolled over, killing two high school soccer players.

Though seat belts may help in a roll over, what happens after that may be a problem, Walker said. In an emergency where students have to quickly escape the bus, unbolting 50 riders could be a problem, “especially if you have young children on the bus,” he said.

Also, when seat belts are installed, it takes a way from the total room on the bus, Walker said. Seat room would grow smaller, and as a result fewer students would be able to ride the bus, he said.



Problem solving

The only way to fix that situation is to buy more buses or restrict bus riding requirements further. Students living more than two miles away from their school can ride the bus, Walker said, but if the seat belt law is put in place, that will likely change.

Buying more buses is also probably out of the question, Walker said. Buses typically cost about $75,000, and to retro-fit them with seat belts would be another $15,000, he said. When you add in the cost of hiring additional drivers, it just does not make sense.

“I don’t see it as anything practical for any school district to undertake,” he said.

And just because the law goes into effect, it does not mean everyone will follow it, Walker said. Usually, younger students are compliant with seat belt wearing, he said. “But the older a student gets, the less compliant they are with wearing them,” he said.

Also, if a seat belt system breaks, what will the district do about that one student who can no longer ride the bus because of the measures put in place, Walker asked.

“There are some questions there that would need to be addressed,” he said.

The idea behind the seat belt law has good intentions, but there are too many long term consequences that would come with it, Walker said.

“It’s the safest thing on the road, bar-none,” he said. “Good training, good vehicles. Those are the things that we’re using.”

        

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