ALT-1 Should School Buses have and Enforce Seat Belt use – No
"Should school buses have and enforce seat belt use?" If I am faced in answering this question in its entirety, I will have to say no. However, it is a two part question and deserves a two part answer . . .
Should school buses have seat belts?
I am divided on this issue. I wouldn't mind if school buses had seat belts and it would make a lot of people feel more comfortable about the safety of their kids if their children are trained to use seat belts. I am; however, oppositional to spending loads of our education dollars on seat belts for school buses.
Bus accidents are tragic, especially if children are injured or killed. Statistics tell us that travel by school bus is the safest form of transportation. Both injuries and deaths related to school buses are quite a bit less when compared to other modes of transportation.
Our education dollars are precious, and as much as I despise the concept of "the greater good", I believe that the money set aside for schools can be spent in a more effective area.
Should seat belt use be enforced on school buses?
To this question, my definite answer is "no". If it were a perfect world, every child that got on bus would buckle their seat belt and things would be hunky-dory. However, the world is not perfect and neither are our children.
It would be impossible for a bus driver to enforce the use of seat belts and attempting to do so might even further jeopardize the safety of the children and other people on the roads. I would rather the driver pay attention to driving safely.
If the driver was expected to enforce the use of seat belts, what would the penalty be if they didn't? You could fine them, suspend their license or fire them. With any of those actions, we would end up with a shortage of bus drivers and eventual loss of school buses. So, maybe the question should be, "Do you want school buses or not?"
Now, let's not limit ourselves to only one option. There are other alternatives for enforcement . . .
1. Bus moderators could be hired to enforce the use of seat belts2. Students and parents could be held responsible for lack of use of seat belts
I am also opposed to both of those ideas . . .
Hiring bus moderators means more waste of educational money that should be spent to educate our children. I am certain that parents would not happy to have their children excluded from the ability to ride school buses and they would fight being fined for lack of use by their child if they weren't even there.
From my view as a parent, sure I think that school buses should have seat belts and enforce their use to protect my children. However, I understand that the feat would be impossible and the whole concept would entail an unneeded expense for our school system. I would rather take the risk and rest assured that our children will receive a quality education.
