Thread: POLL : Do you think Minnesota needs to make school buses mor

Do you think Minnesota needs to make school buses more safe?
Poll Results:
Yes, add seat belts
53.75%
Yes, higher seat backs
11.69%
No, they are safe enough
34.56%
Chat: Get your comment on the news
Total number of votes: 573

Can an ex-bus driver add her two cents?

I used to drive in Fairfax County, VA, which is a hugh school district. One of the biggest in the country. Their buses had every possible piece of equipment to make them safer. But, people asked me all the time why we didn't have seat belts on the buses.

Many studies have been done and the consensus is that it's safer NOT to have seat belts. Why? I drove a big bus that held 80 elementary age kids. If that bus was in an accident and caught on fire, the kids who couldn't get their seat belts off would be trapped. Scary thought right?

We had the high seat backs, which were very cushioned. If the kids hit their heads on the seat in front of them, they would sustain minimal injury. And, the sides of the bus were made of reinforced steel. A mechanic likened it to being in a tank!

I know it seems safer to have seat belts on the buses, but in the long run, it could be worse.

Skip By the way, seat belts and higher seat backs would not have saved those kids, she slammed her van directly into them.
Details

12:56 PM Feb 25, 2008 #
Skip Now all the illegal apologists will say Americans crash into school busses also. Yes, but they don't drive 55 mph and launch off a railroad track into the side of school busses!! I have never heard of an American doing anything like that, have you?
Details

12:55 PM Feb 25, 2008 #
Skip Looking at the damage to the vehicles and based on info so far, it seems the illegal hit the railroad tracks and went airborne, that is how she was able to knock the bus over by hitting it higher up instead of at ground level.
Details
12:54 PM Feb 25, 2008 #