Law says kids to be buckled in new buses

Marisa O’Neil

Starting July 1, some new school buses in California will have

something none has ever had before -- seat belts.

State legislation will require that all new school buses carrying

fewer than 20 passengers have a three-point restraint system, or

shoulder and lap belt, beginning July 1. The same will be true for

all new school buses starting July 1, 2005.

Buses currently on the road without belts will still be legal, but

any new buses purchased or manufactured will need the restraints,

according to the state vehicle code. All Newport-Mesa Unified School

District’s buses are due for replacement in the near future.

“Anything that encourages safer conditions, we support,” said Dana

Schonwit, a Newport Coast Elementary School PTA member. “I don’t know

why they haven’t had seat belts. If you wear a seat belt in a car,

why wouldn’t you have them in a bus that’s full of kids?”

Senate Bill 568, which passed in 2001, amends the state vehicle

code to require the restraints in all new buses after July 1. Before

that deadline, the district will get at least one compressed natural

gas bus -- without restraints -- through a state grant and may

purchase a second, Assistant Supt. for Business Services Paul Reed

said.

Because the restraints take up extra space, the buses will have a

smaller seating capacity, Reed said. That will mean the district will

have to buy roughly 20% more buses to transport the same number of

students.

The district’s new director of transportation services, Pete

Meslin, said he’s all for getting new buses -- the district now has

some as old as 35 years. Older buses are still safe, he said, but new

ones are less polluting, more comfortable and have lower maintenance

costs.

But he’s not sold on the safety of seat restraints on buses.

School buses, he said, are already safer than passenger vehicles.

Not only are they more visible, he said, but are built stronger and

with a passenger compartment placed higher than where a vehicle would

hit the bus.

The students are also “compartmentalized” in their seats, so they

aren’t thrown as far in a crash as they would be in a car, he said.

“[Buses are] built so much like tanks,” he said. “They really are,

by far, the safest way to transport children, but it’s hard to

convince parents that they’re way safer than the family car.”

A 2002 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

determined that lap/shoulder belts on school buses “could provide

some benefit,” but could cause additional injury if misused. Students

are eight times safer in a school bus than with their own parents,

according to the study.

In April, an SUV crashed into a school bus loaded with 28 children

on their way to Newport Coast Elementary School. No one was hurt.

If there’s even a chance children will be safer, Schonwit said,

the seat restraints are a good idea. And the belts would help keep

antsy passengers from getting up or turning around in their seats,

she said.

The district is applying for grants to replace its 65 buses,

Meslin said. But they will have to start budgeting for new buses,

which cost about $100,000 each year.

Because the district has not been purchasing new buses on a

regular basis, the whole fleet needs an overhaul, Reed said. Older

buses cost more to maintain and are less fuel efficient, he said.

“Newport-Mesa hasn’t replaced its buses in a long time,” Reed

said. “Part of the problem is that we should have had a plan for

rolling out seven to 10 a year.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.