day care bus safety

[sweetpeamami83]

I am just wondering what are the rules/regulations on car seats/boosters and daycare buses? Is there a different age and weight limit for daycare's and children riding without a carseat? Or do they have to follow the booster/carseat rules for the state?

[MomToEliEm]

What kind of buses are they? Are they 15-passenger vans or actual school buses? Sometimes daycares may classify their vehicles as commercial vehicles and may be exempt from carseat laws. Some states may have rules for public schools but private schools/daycares may be exempt. What state are you in?

At my previous daycare, they used 15-passenger vans, but never utilized carseats or boosters (except for the couple times I forced them to have my child use a booster seat), but Texas law didn't require any child over 36" to use anything so they were never breaking the law. Our current daycare uses school buses instead so they do not have to utilize carseats and boosters.

[ketchupqueen]

It depends on whether the state defines that as a "school bus" or not.

School buses are often exempt (although for kids under a certain age or weight, may not be.) However, the definition of school bus varies from state to state, and may also depend on whether the daycare operating the bus/van is operated by a non-profit organization or not.

However, they are professional care givers. They should be held to a higher standard of care, IMO. That should include best practice in transporting children. I'd suggest you give them information on best practice and see where it goes from there.

[MissKatie]

I'd suggest you give them information on best practice and see where it goes from there.

As a daycare teacher, I URGE you to do this. Ask to see the vehicle. Until this year, our kids were being transported in a 15 passenger van with lap/shoulder belts for only five rear passengers and lap belts for the rest. Per state law, only children under 4 rode in car seats and these were provided by the parents, so I saw backless boosters (no head support), expired seats, outgrown seats... it was pretty bad, I would NOT have let my child ride in it. Fortunately I was able to make some positive changes with those parents last year and even a bit of an impact on my boss (although I think a parent speaking to her would have had more impact, which is why I urge you to say something). This year we have a new compartmentalized BUS with fold down harnesses for the younger kids. It is very nice and I am VERY excited about being able to transport the kids SAFELY!