Argument Lingers on Need for School Bus Seat Belts

Legislation to require seat belts in school buses has come close to becoming law in California, but never quite made it because of a continuing controversy over their effectiveness.

The debate was at its height in the mid-1980s when proponents, mainly parents of children killed or injured in bus accidents, said bus seat belts would help save lives and prevent serious injuries.

Opponents--who included a number of school administrators, bus manufacturers and state schools Supt. Bill Honig--replied that funds would be better spent on other bus safety features and they argued that the belts could trap children inside fiery coffins in case of a crash.

Wednesday’s Palm Springs school bus accident in which seven people were killed and 53 injured is almost certain to rekindle the controversy. It also is likely to bring additional pressure on school districts to replace an estimated 5,000 older buses that do not meet federal safety standards.

The last big push for mandatory school bus seat belts came in 1986 when the Legislature approved, and former Gov. George Deukmejian signed into law, a bill by former Assemblywoman Gloria Molina asking the California Highway Patrol to study the effectiveness of school bus seat belts.

The report stopped short of recommending their installation. But it did recommend that old buses failing to meet 1977 federal safety standards be replaced with newer models that include extra seat padding, stronger body construction and more exits.

A legislative source said the bus involved in the Palm Springs crash--a 1989 Bluebird--should have complied with those federal safety standards.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Los Angeles), chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, suggested that the installation of safety belts would not have prevented deaths and serious injuries in crashes like the one in Palm Springs.

“This is an emotional issue,” Katz said. “The unfortunate part is if you drive off a cliff and fall 75 feet, people are going to get hurt, regardless if you are wearing a seat belt or not.

Katz noted that a 1987 study by the National Transportation Safety Board of 43 school bus accidents could not conclude that seat belts would have saved lives in any of those accidents.

“In a couple of cases, they said it might have helped,” he said, “but in other cases, they said it could have hurt more.”

Neither Katz nor Sen. Quentin L. Kopp (I-San Francisco), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said they planned to introduce mandatory school bus seat belt legislation. No other similar bills are in the legislative hopper, according to staff aides.

A top consultant to the Senate committee, Mehdi Morshed, said: “The (seat belt) issue comes up every time there is a serious accident, but all studies show putting seat belts on school buses doesn’t necessarily result in improved safety.

“A seat belt in an automobile is different, it keeps you from hitting your head on the windshield or being thrown out of the car if the doors fly open in an accident, but neither of those factors apply in a school bus accident,” Morshed added.

A lobbyist for the School Transportation Coalition, Stephanie Halnan, who represents 150 California school districts seeking to obtain more money for the replacement of old school buses, said his group “does not believe that seat belts on school buses will increase student safety, but old school buses should be replaced with newer models that have improved safety features as soon as possible.”

Halnan said more than $450 million is required to replace the 5,000 school buses on California roads today that do not meet the 1977 federal safety standards.

She noted that in 1988, the Legislature approved, and Gov. Deukmejian signed into law, a Katz bill to provide up to $100 million to replace old school buses. She emphasized that more funds should be found quickly.