She says she will recommend future buses have the three-point seat belts. She says if funding allows going forward, she will consider buying three-point seat belts. "Seat belts enhance safety on school buses," Portee said. Only three large buses and 24 smaller buses have lap and shoulder belts. Some district buses have lap belts, which don’t meet NTSB’s suggestions. Her view is that seat belts are great but not essential. Nicole Portee is Denver Public Schools Transportation director. “Your child is much safer taking a bus to and from school than traveling by car,” the website says. For some perspective - the National Safety Council estimates there were 40,000 vehicle deaths in 2017. School buses are the safest form of transportation, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.įour to six school-age children die each year on school buses which is less than one percent of all traffic fatalities nationwide, NHTSA says on its website. Some say buses are safe enough without seat belts. There is no such requirement statewide in Colorado. Some of those states do not provide funding for districts to buy buses with seat belts, so the rule is not always followed. Only Arkansas, California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, Nevada, New York and Texas have statewide rules requiring buses have seat belts. Three-point seat belts have a shoulder and lap belt like most vehicles on the road.Īs part of Denver7’s 360 approach to storytelling, we examined points of view about whether seat belts are needed on school buses. "In the history of crashes we're starting to see just an undeniable benefit of the shoulder belt," NTSB investigator Tom Barth, who investigates highway crashes for the federal agency, said. Buses in Littleton do not have them either. In Jefferson and Douglas counties, for example, buses do not have seat belts, the districts told Contact7. To comment on this or other 360 stories, email us at See more 360 stories here.ĭENVER – The National Transportation Safety Board now recommends all new school buses have three-point seat belts but has no authority to require this.Ī Contact7 review of several districts shows most do not have seat belts on buses and in Denver, where some buses do have belts, students are not required to wear them. Editor's Note: Denver7 360 stories explore multiple sides of the topics that matter most to Coloradans, bringing in different perspectives so you can make up your own mind about the issues.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |