Seat Belts On The School Bus?

[Tobias Queen]

Ok, I feel a little guilty using overkill to make a point here, but a picture is worth a thousand words. Buses need seat belts. Let's make it happen?

[Tamara Shepherd]

Timely that you share this clip tonight, Tobias. Moments ago, my husband popped into the office here where I'm working to tell me about a Dateline segment he caught on TV tonight. It said that only six states nationally have laws requiring that busses have seatbelts--and even those states lack laws requiring that students wear them!

I'm glad to help start this ball rolling. The e-mail address "format" for writing our state legislators is sen/[e-mail], and our contacts are as follows:

State Senators--
Dist 5, Randy McNally
Dist 6, Jamie Woodson
Dist 7, Tim Burchett

State Representatives--
Dist 13, Harry Tindell
Dist 14, Park M. Strader
Dist 15, Joseph Armstrong
Dist 16, Bill Dunn
Dist 17, Frank Nicely
Dist 18, Stacey Campfield
Dist 19, Harry Brooks

[Lisa Starbuck]

That is scary. Doesn't make sense to me why we don't have seat belts on buses. Did you see this discussion? Is it simply that it would cost too much to retrofit? Why not make all NEW buses with seat belts?

[Tamara Shepherd]

I recall the conversation, Lisa.

It would seem that our timing of launching this particular campaign is kinda lousy--gas prices are up (increasing transportation costs overall) and bus routes will soon become longer, too (as a consequence of the recent HS rezoning).

Still, we can certainly raise the question. It will be interesting to learn why the state's lack of attention to what is nevertheless an important safety issue.

[Tobias Queen]

Not sure how well this will be received by our collective senators and representatives, but I sent this email to all of the sen/reps you had listed. I'm just one voice in the wilderness though, if any other people feel compelled to make this happen, please send an email to your senator or representative by clicking on their name below

District 5 - Senator, Randy McNally

District 6 - Senator, Jamie Woodson

District 7 - Senator, Tim Burchett

District 13 - Rep, Harry Tindell

District 14 - Rep, Park M. Strader

District 15 - Rep, Joseph Armstrong

District 16 - Rep, Bill Dunn

District 17 - Rep, Frank Nicely

District 18 - Rep, Stacey Campfield

District 19 - Rep, Harry Brooks

Here is what I wrote to all of them

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Hello, My name is Tobias Queen and I'm a concerned parent.

Ok, I feel a little guilty using overkill to make a point here, but a picture is worth a thousand words.

Buses need seat belts.

Let's make it happen?

Check out this video of what happens in a wreck on a school bus without seatbelts, there were only minor injuries, but this illustrates the point emphatically. Please, follow the link and watch the video.

http://schoolmatters.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=879777%3ATopic%3A2446

Whether Retrofitting (which seems unlikely) or requiring all newly manufactured school buses to have seat belts installed (and I think this is the way to go), something needs to be done to ensure our children's safety, or considering the time frame involved, their children's safety.

Please see where this discussion was started on the forums at www.schoolmatters.ning.com

Thanks,

TQ

[Karen Carson]

Every year there are attempts in the TN legislation related to school bus seat belts that fail. The prime concern seems to be the cost. Last year *HB1004 by *Curtiss, *Harwell, *Fitzhugh, *Bibb. (SB1088 by *Burks.)

School Transportation - Requires any school bus purchased after July 1, 2007, to have an approved restraint system; requires all school buses in use after July 1, 2019, to have an approved restraint system. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 21 was presented.

I serve on the Tennessee Legislative Network (TLN) Board for the Tennessee School Boards Association and was very disappointed and frustrated by the TSBA decision to not only not support this bill but actively work to defeat it. The generation of children in school today have been raised with seat belts. They get in cars, strollers, airplanes, and amusement park rides and automatically put on their seat belts. Yet, we tell them when they enter a school bus, suddenly seat belts are not necessary. It is crazy--as well as unsafe. If you would like to see the progression of the bill go to http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/. You can enter the bill number above and see the fiscal note as well as the steps a bill must travel to become law.

[Tobias Queen]

Sorry to hear that about the buses.

Overcrowding on the bus is a big issue too, standing or sitting in the aisle or sitting on someones lap should not even be an option. We require adults to wear seatbelt in their cars, but not kids on a bus, what kind of logic is that? I totally understand about overcrowding on the bus though, it was like that when I went to Northwest and West the whole time. If we had been in a wreck, odds are someone would have been seriously injured.

Currently the only solution I can see them going with would be double runs, cutting the route in half and coming back for the 2nd half, this is a logistics problem that Knox County needs to work out. I'm not sure whose in charge of setting bus schedules. Anybody out there know who to talk to?

[Beth Love]

Rick Grubb is the Transportation Director for Knox County. His number is 594-1550. I'm not sure what sort of help he can be as I"m guessing the budget is fixed. Our Middle/High bus is late every day and when my neighbor called to complain she was told to wait until after Labor Day, that the crowds would die down on the buses. She's driving her daughter to school every day so she won't be late to school, so if she's not riding the bus due to lateness, how can they get an accurate count if she and others would normally would take the bus?

[Tobias Queen]

Well, I called Dr. Grubb and left a brief voice mail asking him to give me a call back, I'll see where this leads...

Thanks,

TQ

[Tobias Queen]

Just FYI, I have received 2 replies thus far from our representatives.

Rep. Stacey Campfield's Reply was "Thank you for your input." - Rep. Stacey Campfield

On the otherhand Rep. Bill Dunn's reply was more detailed.

"Thank you for contacting me regarding seatbelts on school buses. While I don't sit on the committee that will hear this legislation I would anticipate that the committee will want statistics on injuries and fatalities on school buses. There may be a question on how fast would children be able to exit in the case of fire if they are in seatbelts.

Personally I wonder if kids, being kids, would vandalize the belts (i.e. break off pencils in them, super glue them). I guess the experience other states have had would answer this concern.

And yes price will play the largest role in whether the bill passes.

Thank you for your interest in the safety of our children."

-Rep. Bill Dunn

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So it looks like price is, of course, going to be the issue, no one seems capable of arguing with the logic of safety belts. I wonder if we can find out what the cost is to retrofit just one bus with seatbelts? I'm going to see if I can find out, surely there is a study, It will take some time so I may not post anything for awhile, I'll need to read through the legislation and notes that Karen Carson mentioned earlier that got shot down previously.

School Transportation - Requires any school bus purchased after July 1, 2007, to have an approved restraint system; requires all school buses in use after July 1, 2019, to have an approved restraint system. - Amends TCA Title 49, Chapter 6, Part 21.

Which is probably a wonderful mix of legalise and numbers, wish me luck!

[Anna Emert]

My son broke both his femurs, broke his jaw, and other injuries in the May 11, 2005 bus crash in Karns. They rolled back about 40 miles an hour into a tree. The tree was due to be cut down that day and the home owner said something went wrong and it was not cut down. If it had been gone already when the crash occurred there would have been many more hurt as bad as my son if not worse. There was a six foot drop behind that tree. These children would have rolled around inside possibly more violently than what we see in that video.

[Tobias Queen]

Sorry to hear that, still trying to follow up with Dr Grubb, we are playing phone tag now.