Should School Buses Have Seatbelts?

In the site, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3617/is_200410/ai_n9426216, it states that normal school buses are so far the safest vehicles. Every year there are about seven to eight accidents pertaining to buses, which is one hundred times, less than the number of students that get in accidents using other ways of getting to school. Even though most school buses don't have seatbelts, it doesn't mean that there won't be any in the near future. School buses should not have seatbelts. There are many ways that they could be dangerous, not helpful, etc…There have been many arguments nowadays, due to the fact that there have been a few more accidents than usual on school buses. Parents are thinking that the cause is because of the lack of seatbelts; but that is not entirely true. People shouldn't just blame it on seatbelts because accidents are caused mostly by the drivers' reckless driving or the other drivers.

Lives saved by seat belts and airbags

Bus Livery Design

English: Part of the interior of Wightbus 5803 (HW...

Several studies have shown seat belts would only provide "little, if any, added protection" (www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/buses/pub/seatbelts.hmp.html), which means that the seatbelts may not be necessarily the cause to accidents. In fact, there have been reports that students have died because of seatbelts. This is because some of them use them as weapons. Example= They use them as whips, and the metallic latches have proven to be very dangerous to make cuts, puncture eyes or any other kinds of damage that can be done, they use them as strangle devices, putting them around the necks of other children, some will even use them to break bus windows, and lastly it is almost impossible to make the students use the belts. (http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/38929)Also, many of the district school would say it is "much too expensive." Since the bus drivers are expected to enforce the rule of having the seatbelts, when they check, many...