Division in school buses

The apparent absence of seat belt requirements in federal laws governing safety on school buses has been the subject of intense debate for decades. Why, if seat belts are mandatory in passenger vehicles, are they not mandatory on vehicles that collectively transport millions of children to and from school each day? Given the life-saving power of seat belts, proven in study after study, one would think that school buses should be equipped with seat belts for all children.

Instead of seat belts, school buses rely on a different safety feature known as harness. Unlike seatbelts, which are, in a sense, “extra” fixtures attached to the vehicle, a splitter is something that is built into the design of school buses. The goal is to secure occupants in shock-absorbing, padded compartments that protect them in the event of a collision and to replace the need for traditional seat belts, which children are less likely to wear properly.

egg carton

Sectional buses are designed to protect passengers in the same way that cartons protect the eggs inside. The seats on the school bus are designed with a padded, flexible and shock-absorbing back that is tall enough to prevent children from getting out of the cabin. These benches are made according to strict federal guidelines, which regulate everything from the force they must withstand to the floor they attach to.

Should a school bus ever have a collision, children will be caught by the reinforced and padded seat backs, which, ideally, will absorb enough impact to prevent injury.

Does fragmentation work?

Proponents of current school bus safety regulations (i.e., those based on compartmentalization) point to the very low rate of injuries and fatalities in school buses, compared to other passenger vehicles, as good evidence of the effectiveness of compartmentalized design.

However, as opponents point out, an association like this is not evidence of causation. That is, just because the fragmented school bus system exhibits a low infection rate does not mean that the fragmented design was responsible for its safety record. Moreover, even government agencies such as the National Transportation Safety Board have noted the ineffectiveness of division in dealing with side effects.