School bus driver seat belts7/23/2023 ![]() Moreover, when a collision does happen, most vehicles will only be able to damage the space that’s below the floor line of the bus. With the traditional yellow paint and large profile, school buses are much easier to notice than smaller vehicles. In fact, crash statistics show that school bus-related injuries occur far more often while bus students are pedestrians walking to or from the bus, than when they are riding on a bus. A recent Globe Mail article reported statistics from Transport Canada and the Ontario School Bus Association that suggest that a child is 16 times safer in a school bus than riding in their family vehicle. This is in sharp contrast to the 22,000 fatalities and 1.3 million injuries for other vehicle crashes during the same period. The system has worked so well that there have been only 11 fatalities and 3,600 injuries involving school bus accidents in all of Canada between 20. The padded seats with high backs are fitted closely together, so that the seats themselves can protect passengers in the event of a crash. Why seat belts are not necessary for school bus safetyĪccording to Transport Canada, the department responsible for drafting policies and regulations relating to transportation services in Canada, seat belts are not required on school buses because these vehicles are compartmentalized. Moreover, seat belt supporters believe that the hassles of implementation are justified if a seatbelt saves even one life. If adults are required by law to buckle up in their vehicles, then young children, our most vulnerable passengers, should logically require seat belts even more. On the other hand, advocates of the ‘seatbelt movement’ argue that requiring seat belts is plain common sense. School boards and bussing companies would likely need to replace the entire seat with one that can be fitted with seat belts, and any chosen seat belt mechanism or solution must work for widely varying heights and weights of children. Moreover, a provision requiring the use of seat belts would be difficult and expensive to implement. Although children may be thrown or jolted in their seating area during a crash, studies have shown that traveling in a school bus is still several times safer than traveling in a family car. Transport Canada officials argue that school buses are safe without seat belts and further, seat belts may adversely affect child safety on school busses. Why are school buses not required to have seatbelts? If children need to wear a seat belt in the family car, shouldn’t they be required to do the same in a school bus? This issue has been hotly debated by parents and opposing experts, but currently the provinces do not mandate seat belts in school busses. Posted by Injury Lawyers of Ontario on May 29, 2016
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