National Transportation Safety Board Recommends School Bus Lap and Shoulder Safety Belts
Following the investigation of two 2016 multi fatality crashes involving school buses, the National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that all new buses be equipped with lap and shoulder seat belts. The organization is also calling for better driver oversight.
Enough is Enough
"I feel like we've always tiptoed around this issue of seat belt usage and lap [and] shoulder belts in school buses," said NTSB Board Chairman Robert L. Sumwalt. "The last recommendation we made on this was in 2013 coming out of a crash in Chesterfield, New Jersey, that occurred in February of 2012. And it was a recommendation which is sort of weak in my opinion."
The organization is also recommending the NHTSA mandate automatic emergency braking systems and for 42 states that don't require for lap and shoulder belts on large school buses add such a requirement. Four other states should upgrade their requirements from lap-only belts to lap and shoulder belts.
Currently NHTSA believes seat belts are not necessary in large school buses. They required in small school buses because of the vehicle weight.
The crashes in Baltimore and Chattanooga collectively killed 12 and injured 37. Though the driver in a recent school New Jersey school bus crash that killed a student in a teacher had eight speeding violations and 14 license suspensions, his record wasn't bad enough to raise any red flags.
