Buses Start Buckling Up

(ARA) - You bring your newborn baby home from the hospital in a government-approved car seat. Before you know it, she can buckle herself in. So when the first day of school arrives and she boards the school bus, it may come as quite a shock that they don't buckle up.

But times are changing. Some school bus manufacturers now offer an optional seat belt system. The SafeGuard FlexSeat, one of the seat belt systems on the market, allows buses to carry three belted elementary school children or two belted high school children in a standard bus seat. This FlexSeat offers school districts the ability to add the safety of lap-shoulder belts without reducing bus capacity or altering bus routes while preserving the standard of compartmentalization - think of eggs in a carton. With the new school year just around the corner, you may find your school district has implemented the use of seatbelts into its new buses.

Loudoun County, Va. has taken a stand on seatbelts as the first in the region and its state to mandate all new buses come equipped with seatbelts. More than 30 new, seatbelt equipped, Thomas Built school buses will roll into service this fall and Loudoun's entire school bus fleet will have seatbelts by 2020. California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey and New York school districts already have seatbelt requirements and Texas will be next to follow suit in 2010.

"We are always looking for ways to help keep kids safe," says Mike Lunsford, director of transportation for Loudoun County Schools. "And requiring children to buckle up encourages and reinforces the habit, which will keep children safer their whole lives."

Seatbelts or no, the best way for students to travel to school is by school bus. Fatal crashes involving school bus occupants are extremely rare, even though school buses serve a remarkable 25 million children every school day. In fact, as the largest mass transit program in the United States, nearly half a million yellow school buses drive 4.3 billion miles each school year while maintaining a safety record unequalled in the transportation industry.

"Parents can rest easy knowing children who travel on school buses are utilizing the safest means of transportation available," says John O'Leary, president and chief executive officer of Thomas Built Buses, the leading manufacturer of school buses in North America. "School buses today are built with safety as a top priority, but it's always a good idea to review safety precautions with children who ride the bus. Remind them to buckle up and stay seated."

Parents and teachers who want to review safety rules and guidelines with their children or students may visit the Safety and Value page of the Inside Thomas Built Buses section of www.thomasbus.com to download a school bus safety activity book for elementary age students.

Courtesy of ARAcontent