NHTSA: Seat Belts in All School Buses Should Be Required

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) called for seat belt requirements in all school buses over the weekend when administrator Mark Rosekind urged the National Association for Pupil Transportation to reconsider the requirement and reevaluate transportation and safety concerns.

Only six states currently require seat belts in school buses, and the NHTSA estimates that approximately four children die in school bus crashes every year because of the lack of safety belts, according to CBS News. If the NAPT were to require seat belt installations in every school bus, the NHTSA believes that the number of deaths could be cut in half.

"Seat belts save lives, and it should be on every school bus for every kid," Rosekind said, CBS News reported. "Let's start figuring out how to make that happen, not what the barriers are, but how to get those seat belts on every school bus."

The school bus industry group NAPT, however, balked at the idea of a federal regulation requiring each state to provide seat belts in every school bus, and instead opted for each state to come to its own decision regarding seat belt requirements.

“States and local school districts are better able to recognize and analyze school transportation risks particular to their areas and identify approaches to best manage and reduce those safety risks," the NAPT said in a statement, according to NBC News. "Local officials are in the best position to decide whether to purchase seat belts, since these officials must weigh a multitude of unique considerations bearing on purchasing decisions, especially when faced with budgetary constraints."

The NHTSA does recognize the massive costs that a federal seat belt requirement would accrue. Outfitting each school bus with set belts would cost up to $10,000 and, with more than half a million buses in the U.S., the costs would be astronomical, the Inquisitr reported. For the time being, however, the NHTSA has simply made a recommendation for a change in regulation policies.

Related Stories:

• South African Student Steals Bus to Get to Final Year Exam
• Babysitter's Alleged Seatbelt Text Ends in Child Sex Abuse Charges