Buckle up? Or not?

We all know that a particular deadly oversight on the part of the driver is the failure to use the seatbelt restraints provided (according to the DOT, seat belt use remains at 81%, virtually unchanged since 2003). Remember, that air bags are meant only as a supplementary restraint system (hence, SRS), not the primary. As anyone who has ever gone through an owner's manual knows, the primary restraint system in your vehicle is the seat belts. It is through the use of the seat belts that you can better reduce severity of injury and increase your chances of surviving a crash. In fact, federal law mandates motor vehicle manufacturers to install seat belt use reminders. Yes, you have all heard them.

Why then, I wonder, do federal transportation officials make the installation of seat belts optional in school buses?

I don't understand. Are they helpful in limiting injury and death, or not? If they are, and federal regulation mandates that the car itself reminds us to wear them, why then should not the kids that ride in their buses to school have the option of buckling up?

One of the arguments against installing seat belts in school buses is that they are not as necessary in a school bus as they are in a regular non-commercial vehicle, since the kids are seated close together, the seats are well padded and the backs are high. So it is not even that they would not help, but that they would not help as much.

You are thinking that in a frontal accident it is much safer to impact your head against another tall well padded seat back than it is to do it against a dashboard, steering wheel, or windshield. True. But if there were no protection benefits to seat belts in these conditions, why mandate their installation in rear seats for any vehicles? Also, what about side impacts and rollovers the school bus may be involved in? Not all crashes are frontal, you know, we have all seen those in the news.

Finally, not giving the kids even the option to put on their seat belts sends the wrong message and undermines the importance of seat belt use later on. Maybe by making installation of seat belts in school buses, the DOT can save millions later on in buckle up campaigns!