NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Thursday re-emphasized the agency’s call for seat belts on school buses in the aftermath of a crash in Chattanooga, Tenn., that killed six students.
Administrator Mark Rosekind said at a transportation safety conference in Washington that while school buses remain the safest way for children to get to and from school, they “can be safer.”
“And as the recent tragic crash in Chattanooga reminds us, there is no more heartrending, dreadful, tragic crash than when children are involved,” he said.
An average of five school-age children a year have died on school buses between 2006 and 2016, according to data compiled by the agency.
Until recently, federal regulators did not push the idea of requiring safety restraints. That changed in November 2015 when Rosekind called for a three-point seat belt on every bus.
Administrators in school districts where the over-the-shoulder belts have been introduced have noticed that they also help keep students in their seats and reduce disciplinary problems, said Derek Graham, director of pupil transportation in North Carolina.
Robert Molloy of the National Transportation Safety Board said he welcomes what he called “secondary benefits” of having seat belts in school buses. “But the reality is that it does save lives,” he said.
In the Chattanooga, Tenn., crash, police said the driver was speeding with 37 elementary school students aboard when he wrapped the bus around a tree. The NTSB has not yet determined whether seat belts would have saved lives or reduced injuries on the bus.
