A string of school bus accidents has raised questions about the safety of school children. For years, the yellow school bus has been the icon of safe transportation for children, but with the recent accidents, parents can no longer be so sure.
• On March 4, a school bus driver ran a traffic signal in Harrisonburg, Va. This caused the bus he was driving along with another car to crash into another school bus. The incident resulted in 28 people hurt. The 70-year-old driver has been charged with reckless driving.
• On March 3, 11 students had to be hospitalized, some with neck and back injuries, when their school bus overturned, about 40 miles from Atlanta. The bus was carrying 27 middle and high school students.
• On Feb. 27, a school bus turned too fast and flipped over, outside Washington, D.C. The driver and 5 middle school students had to be hospitalized.
• On Feb. 19, a school bus crashed into a van in Cottonwood, Minn., careened into a pickup truck and then tipped over. The accident resulted in 4 students killed and 14 others injured.
Because of these recent incidents, an old issue has been rekindled: should seat belts be mandatory in school buses?
There is no federal law that makes it mandatory for large school buses to have seat belts. At state level, there are only 6 states that require seat belts on the yellow buses — California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York and Texas.
source: safetyissues.com
