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Makes you wonder why the driver gets a seatbelt when the kids do not.
Because an adult should know how to unbuckle themselves in a rollover accident.
And the driver is at a different impact point
In a rollover accident, you also risk kids getting tossed around like clothes in a dryer and ejected from the vehicle if the windows are open or break. I can't say I think that is a better option. It is a risk vs reward scenario here. In a fire you can get out easier, in a rollover, you turn the bus into a drink mixer if it is going fast enough into the roll.
Buses are built so they are very unlikely to roll. If they do, everyone was probably screwed anyway.
I’m willing to trust the people who designed them and the fact that they’ve continued with the same design over the thinking of a random person on the internet
Like all things, it's complicated and you're both right. For a long time the best practice was to not have them.
The numbers now say it's better to have them, and more places are recommending that they do.
Yep! As we gather more data we draw new conclusions and solutions!
The back of the seat if front of the students is higher and softer than the steering wheel in front of the driver.
As unfortunate as it sounds, in most accidents kids can't bounce around much and mostly hit something soft enough to keep injuries minor or at least nonfatal.For a long time the numbers worked out that that was enough for most bus accidents to protect students, and that seatbelt costs would be better spent increasing safety at pickup and dropoff locations and increasing bus ridership numbers, since even without seatbelts a school bus is radically safer than being driven to school or walking in most places.
More recently, the numbers have started to say we should invest in seatbelts and making pedestrian routes to schools safer, since those would now make a more significant impact.