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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Md. lawmaker renews call for seat belts on school buses after fatal Chattanooga crash

WASHINGTON — The Tennessee school bus that crashed a week ago killing six children has rekindled questions whether school buses should come equipped with seat belts.

Maryland Sen. Jim Brochin, D-Baltimore, whose school bus seat belt bill stalled last legislative session, hopes to reintroduce the measure at the start of the new General Assembly session in January.

“You got little kids that are enclosed basically in a steel cage. And when the bus violently swerves or gets in an accident, these kids become airborne and they’re susceptible to serious injury,” said Brochin

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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Should have been on buses when required by all other vehicles, always wondered why our children our most important assets in life weren't protected.

Anonymous said...

This is a BS move. Seat belts don't save kids when drivers are aiming for a tree going 90mph. Sorry but reality dictates the driver was trying to kill kids. How about vetting drivers and scrutinizing character / past association. This is a BS liberal ruse under the guise of 'caring' about the kids. 🤔

Paladin said...

Dear Readers,

I have to agree with the comments of 11:21 a.m.

Seat belts are not a viable option for several reasons. First, School busses have an enhanced ride height to protect children, with a 'safety box' built around them to protect them in the event of a crash. These two factors alone are the primary safety tools that keep children alive and this information is very well documented by both federal and state resources.

Second, seat belts would need to be checked by drivers prior to the bus moving, and there is virtually no way a driver could continually monitor children (to be sure their seat belts are on) and drive carefully and safely (a driver's first priority). Further, restraint systems (like a bar that is controlled by a switch by the driver, and closes down above children's legs like many roller coasters do), has been shown to be highly unsafe as the driver could be incapacitated in an accident and unable to release children. Additionally, in the event of a crash with a restraint systems such as this, it could further serve to entrap children.

It is fair to say that there is a lot of debate about this, and this was the case during my almost 3 decades in school systems, but the current solution has been shown (both by factual data and crash statistics both locally and nationally) to be the safest option.

Unfortunately, if there is a crazed driver behind the wheel intent on injuring children, then no systems will be effective. Proper vetting, background checks, and the like is the best way to address the issue.

Regards,

Paladin

Anonymous said...

Longgggggg overdueeeeeee

Anonymous said...

Each county in every district needs to follow these bus drivers at times i see them flying around All Day.

Anonymous said...

I own activity busses that are short busses. They always come with seat belts as required. They are the same buses that schools use. Just curious as to why, myself as a small business owner, must purchase them with seatbelts to do the same jobs the counties and states don't require of public school busses.

Anonymous said...

Yes and yes
This way when punk kids get out of there seats the bus pulls over and the kid loses bus privilages X 1 week.

Anonymous said...

Yep .

Anonymous said...

If they don't have or require them on school buses
then they should not be allowed to write anyone a ticket
in their car then...for not having one on !!!

Anonymous said...

They fine you 50 bucks but let KIDS have None on school
buses......

What a Stupid Govt we have ...alot of common sense ...

Anonymous said...

That so called driver shows you what kind they hire to
drive your kids to schools...
Most school bus drivers I have seen drive should not have
been allowed to drive a bike, let alone a bus with KIDS....

Some of the Worse drivers... them and taxi drivers...Fact

The one in this case looks like a Inmate (prisoner) !!!

Anonymous said...

Who the hell hired him , looking like he does ??? to drive
anything....let alone a school bus with KIDS ????

They should be Fired and Sued ........