Why Doesn’t Your Kid’s School Bus Have Seatbelts?

Wednesday’s school bus crash in Brampton has once again opened up the debate concerning the pros and cons of putting seat belts on large transportation vessels.   Some believe they should be mandatory on buses, while officials maintain they can in fact do more harm than good.

Currently in Toronto there are only belts in the front seat of school buses to accommodate baby seats and other kids who have to be restrained.

Dr. Nabeed Mohammad, of Peel Memorial Hospital, believes they should be implemented throughout the vehicle.

“In car accidents, seat belts prevent a tremendous number of critical injuries, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t be different in this situation,” he reasoned.

But experts say there are no plans to add seat belts to the entire bus, for good reason.

“The research that’s done by Transport Canada shows that, with seat belts, with lap belts, that you could have more internal injuries,” adds Richard Donaldson, Ont. School Bus Association.

Brian Patterson of the Ont. Safety League maintains the belts aren’t necessary because of the way buses are built.

“The base is padded,” he notes.   “The sides are padded in the event that you came from this seat over, you’d be hitting padding again. And you can see there’s even flexibility, if you hit it.”

School bus driver Ed Coloneros brought up a valid point.

“Let’s say the driver is injured,” he said.  “Who is going to unbuckle all the children in there?”

Transportation Minister Donna Cansfield says there is still an ongoing study looking into the need for school bus seat belts.

Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation claims school buses are constructed with a ‘compartmentalization’ design that no car can actually match, featuring:

• Seats with high backs;
• Seats filled with energy-absorbing material;
• Seats placed close together to form compartments;
• Strong seat anchorages.

It claims in a high impact collision, the chances that a child will suffer serious head or neck injuries is actually heightened by the presence of seatbelts.

There’s no guarantee that every youngster will wear the restraint properly, furthering increasing the risk.

And none of the kids involved are ever the same height, leading to concerns that a ‘one size fits all’ approach you’d find in other vehicles won’t do the trick.

Courtesy: Ministry of Transport