Should School Buses Have Seat Belts?

For generations, students have ridden to school in those ubiquitous yellow buses that tend to be the largest vehicles on city streets, their sheer size lending an air of safety to their passengers.

But they may not be safe enough.

Students often sit knee to knee on padded vinyl seats, sliding around the seats as the bus takes corners, and potentially being thrown from the seats in a crash. In the decade between 2003 and 2012 — the most recent statistics available — 174 people died in school bus accidents, 55 of whom were on the bus, according to NHSTA statistics. The remaining 119 were pedestrians.

While all other drivers and passengers are required to wear seat belts at all times in a moving vehicle, students in buses have been exempt from the law. In fact, they don’t even have the option of buckling up, as school buses do not have seat belts.

They may soon change after the country’s top roadway safety supervisor reviewed student safety on school buses. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Director Mark Rosekind announced Sunday he now supports adding seat belts for passengers on school buses.

“School buses should have seat belts. Period,” Rosekind said.

Rosekind stopped short of making seat belts a requirement. Instead, the NHTSA is encouraging school bus makers to voluntarily install them. Six states — California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, Ney York and Texas — already require seat belts on school buses.

What do you think? Should Massachusetts school districts require their buses to have seat belts? Let us know your opinion in the comments section below.