By Steve Alexander Reporter
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Published: Wed, May 28, 2008 - 7:51 pm
Last Updated: Wed, May 28, 2008 - 8:07 pm
Steve Alexander
They're required in Florida, but not in Alabama.
The school bus fleet manager for Mobile County, Bob Brunson, said, "We're abiding by state requirements, state guidelines, specifications for school buses which require lap belts on special needs buses and basically no seat belts on regular buses."
In Alabama, a task force is studying whether seat belts should be mandatory on all school buses.
Brunson said there are different opinions.
He asked, for instance, "If you get in a situation where the bus caught fire or the bus ran off into a body of water, how hard is it be for those students to get unbuckled in time to actually save themselves?"
But Brunson said even without seat belts, the buses used by Mobile County have children's safety in mind.
He said they're compartmentalized, meaning they're arranged in such a way where students are protected by heavily padded seats.
So while there may be disagreement on whether school buses should have seat belts, one question won't be debated.
Brunson said, "If the state tells us to do it, we're going to do it."
Results of the study on whether seat belts should be used on Alabama school buses in Alabama won't be in until September of 2010 at the latest.
State education officials say it will take that long to compile the needed information.
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Justme, I probably couldn’t agree with you more. I think seat belts would do way more good than harm. While I’m not disputing the issue with the water and trapping people inside. Most would agree, that seat belts, when properly used, save lives. There is always that “1-in-a-million” chance that it could cost you. But I’m sure statistics will show, way more bus accidents occur on highways, than in or near water. Can you imagine how many of those kids would have had back and neck injuries had they not have been buckled up. I flipped a ford explored 3 times, without a seatbelt, and I can honestly say I ALWAYS buckle up now.