Would seat belts have prevented deaths in fatal school bus crash?

If you want to start a debate, ask folks how they feel about seat belts on Texas school buses.  People tend to fall into two passionate camps: either they think seat belts are absolutely necessary on buses, or they think it is a terrible idea (this latter groups includes bus manufacturing companies, by the way!)

Well the idea of requiring seat belts on school buses is back is on Texas lawmakers’ minds after a terrible tragedy in Missouri recently.  Two school buses collided with a tractor trailer and a pickup truck, leading to the death of two young bus occupants.

As a result of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has decided to examine whether or not seat belts would have saved the lives of the two young people who were killed.  At the same time, they note that there were contributing factors in the case, and if those factors were addressed going forward crashes could be avoided altogether.

In this situation, according to the state police report one bus was following the other.  The lead bus driver was “inattentive”, probably engaging in distracted driving behavior.  The bus driver traveling behind the lead bus was following too closely, which didn’t leave enough room to brake or perform evasive maneuvers to avoid a crash.

 Safety officials maintain that buses – especially the larger motorcoach style buses with big, plush seats – are designed to keep bus occupants safe in the event of a crash.  According to an NTSB official, "It's safer than traveling on foot. It's safer than traveling on a bicycle or in a parent's vehicle."

We can’t help but wonder how the parents of the individuals killed in this crash feel about the issue of safety belts.  We may see more changes to motorcoach / bus safety rules after the NTSB completes its review.