Seat Belts Proposed for Some School Buses
Have you ever thought about how fantastically retro school buses are in their safety features?
Most school buses pack the kids in like eggs in an egg carton, with low-slung seat backs and no belts, so if the bus gets in an accident, kids go flying about like human missiles, not to mention the book-and-laptop laden back packs, sports equipment and other detritus they bring on board.
Now the Bush administration is proposing that seat backs on all school buses be raised and that the shorter buses -- which are more prone to rollovers -- include seat belts. Longer buses will still be allowed to carry their precious cargo unbelted.
It seems like an odd disconnect in our ultra safety-first society, where kids in passenger cars have to be booster-seated and belted 17 different ways until they are practically old enough to drive themselves. But consider this: School buses are the safest form of driving:
On average, fewer than eight passengers die in school bus crashes every year even though 474,000 school buses carry 25.1 million children more than 4.8 billion miles annually.
Who'd a thunk it? Especially since, in my experience, bus drivers spend most of their time giving kids the evil eye via the rear view mirror. But I guess that's just the one eye. That still leaves one to watch the road.
Seat belts for all school buses, or just some? [MSNBC]
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