Why aren’t seat belts required in school buses?
A. Seat belts are not required in school buses because research by the state Department of Transportation and others determined that compartmentalization was a better solution. Some of the key arguments favoring compartmentalization over seat belts are as follows: a) Compartmentalization is more manageable. The protective surfaces exist in place without depending on any action by the children or any extra special supervision by the drivers. Seat belts require discipline and supervision to keep them clean, unraveled and in use. b) Compartmentalization works equally well for 1, 2 or 3 students per seat. Today’s 39″ wide standard seats may contain three small children or two large ones, or any combination in between. Arranging seat belts to properly handle any combination is difficult, if not impossible; the best known solution with seat belts is to restrict each seat to two students and two belts, which has the disadvantage of sharply reducing the carrying capacity of bus fleets. c) Comp
