Another School Bus Accident Injuring Many Children Raises The Question: Why Is It Not Mandatory For School Buses To Have Seat Belts?
A serious school bus accident on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 involving two school buses in Oklahoma raises the question once again as to seat belts. As I have written in my previous blogs, Federal law does not require school buses to be equipped with seat belts. Certain states, such as California, New Jersey, New York and Florida, have passed laws to place seat belts on all school buses. By 2010, all buses purchased in Texas will be mandated to have seat belts as well.
As a school bus accident and rollover attorney, it is our belief that seat belts would restrain students and prevent occupant ejection and catastrophic injuries that often occur. The school bus industry and its lobbyists state that in a rollover situation or an extreme emergency (fire or collision) the driver would be challenged to unfasten 40 to 50 seat belts and claimed that seat belts do more damage than good. The industry is always alleging that school buses are created with enhanced structures of protection including higher seat backs and cushions to protect students upon impact.
The experienced bus accident and rollover attorneys of Reiff & Bily have investigated many accidents where our experts have determined that the addition of seat belts would be a prudent measure to prevent catastrophic injuries and fatalities in school buses.
