Mixed Reactions to Bus Safety Regulations

The school transportation industry and safety advocates are voicing different reactions to proposed federal rules that stop short of requiring the installation of safety belts in large school buses.

The proposal by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would require small school buses—those that weigh 10,000 pounds or less—to be equipped with lap-and-shoulder belts instead of just lap belts, as current rules require. Also, seat backs on all school buses would have to be raised to 24 inches, from 20 inches.

NHTSA’s proposed rules, which would apply only to newly manufactured school buses, do not call for seat belts of any kind on buses over 10,000 pounds, but they do propose standards for when the safety devices are installed...