Student safety is one of the most critical aspects of operating a school bus system, and everyone agrees that students need to be protected. However, the issue of how to best protect them can get thorny - as we see in frequent debates over the need for seat belts on school buses.
The issue is once again making headlines, as Congressman Cohen (TN-9) and Senator Duckworth of Illinois have reintroduced the School Bus Safety Act of 2023-24. This bill would mandate seat belts on all large school buses (over 10,000 pounds) as well as a range of other safety equipment.
Currently, there's no telling whether it will survive the legislative process this time. However, is it a good idea? Let's take a look at what the bill does.
The School Bus Safety Act of 2023-24
In short, the bill would have the Secretary of Transportation establish rules on mandating several new features in school buses across the nation:
The timeline on issuing these rules would be between 1-2 years from the date the bill goes into effect, depending on the item. This theoretically gives the Transportation Secretary time to study the matter and issue well-founded rules.
Are Current School Buses Unsafe?
No.
One of the reasons these proposals have been controversial is that school buses are already incredibly safe. According to data from Congressman Cohen's office, there are an average of 109 student fatalities in school bus accidents every year. This is out of 20-25 million student riders. Meanwhile, between 30,000-40,000 people die on the road, each year.
Statistically speaking, there's probably no safer form of transportation in the US than school buses.
We don't want to minimize the impact of child deaths. Every one of those 109 yearly deaths is a tragedy - but how many of them realistically would have been prevented with changes to bus design? Most studies can't address that question.
Who Pays for All of This?
The biggest question floating over everything is the cost of these proposals. The seatbelt upgrades alone are estimated to cost several thousand dollars per bus, not to mention all the other features and electronics which would be mandated.
It is possible the private sector will swallow some of the costs. Blue Bird Buses recently announced that they would add belts to all their buses, at no additional cost to buyers. This was a purely voluntary action.
Otherwise, the bill says there should be grant programs, distributing money to states to help local districts pay for upgrades. However, there are no other specifics on how much would be provided, or how much these upgrades would cost in general.
With schools already facing extra tight budgets, many worry that unfunded mandates would cause knock-on problems, in other areas, with other vital school services being cut. Perhaps the money could be put to more overall helpful areas of student safety, rather than improving vehicles that are already among the safest on the road?
Hard Questions with No Easy Answers
In short, this topic continues to raise difficult questions. We'll continue to follow the course of the bill's progress, and report if it makes further progress through the system.
In the meantime, if you want to improve student safety on your buses, BusBoss can help streamline and modernize your school transportation system! Contact us to learn more.