Should School Buses have Seatbelts?

Even without seatbelts, riding on a school bus is one of the safest ways to travel. That said, when an accident like this one does happen, it makes us question why seatbelts aren’t standard on school buses.

There are nearly 500,000 school buses in use daily in the U.S. They transport around 23 million children to and from their schools each and every day. In 2020, the most recent year available, there were only 54 fatalities in bus-related crashes. Only two of those deaths were people on the bus, and one of those was a driver.

Between 2010 and 2020 there were fewer than 70 school bus passenger deaths. By comparison, there are nearly 70 fatalities from car accidents every week in Florida alone.

While it may seem unsafe, the lack of seatbelts is not an issue for those riding on a school bus. They are designed with the children’s safety as the primary focus.

If you’re in a vehicle struck by a school bus the numbers change dramatically. Occupants of vehicles in accidents with school buses are almost 10 times more likely to be injured or die. The size and mass of a school bus are likely to cause a greater amount of damage.

It all comes down to this. The children riding the bus to school are more likely to get there than those who get a ride with their parents.