Question do you drive your kids to school...

bekah

New member
because they won't have seat belts or car seats in a bus? I had not thought of it until now. My ds is almost 5, but will be almost 6 when he starts K and he's pretty light weight as yo can see in my sig.

Just wondering your thoughts on it or if anyone has any info on the safety of buses. He would be riding about 1.5 miles going anywhere from 20-40 mph in the bus.
 
ADS

tiggercat

New member
No, I drive them most days because I don't want to stand out in the cold with a baby to wait for the (perennially late, except when it is early) school bus. They take the bus home because that bus is prompt.

My kids have been >40lbs at school entry though, not sure how I would feel if they were lighter.
 

NVMBR02

New member
Nope. DD rides the bus everyday, except for a few days when it was really cold and windy or raining really hard. Or we were running late.

Next year dh will be driving dd to school 4 days a week only because I wont be home (I'll be at class) and he has to drop ds off at preschool then get dd to school. The bus picks up at the same time ds has to be at school. She will ride the bus to school on fridays when I am home though and she will ride it coming home everyday.

DD is now 6 1/2 and about 40-41lbs. When she started K she was 5 1/2 and about 35/36pounds.
 

lorismurph

Senior Community Member
Oh how I wish there were a bus available. I really hate having to pack up all the kids just to drop one (2 this year) off at school. I'd love to have a bus to bring them home too. I'll be driving 3 times a day (morning, noon, afternoon) since I have one in K 1/2 day and one in 3rd.
 

Simplysomething

New member
Just wondering your thoughts on it or if anyone has any info on the safety of buses. He would be riding about 1.5 miles going anywhere from 20-40 mph in the bus.

Someone does, not me. But they'll post about how buses are extremely safe for school children, and explain to you the whole compartmentalization thing, with links. And it probably won't make you feel any better about the lack of seat belts. But maybe the statistics showing just how safe they are would.

My children ride the bus everyday to and from school (unless something comes up). The lack of belts is disconcerting, especially when we're all about kids being properly restrained. But the way a bus works is different than a car (with regards to compartmentalization etc).
 

Maedze

New member
My 50ish pound almost 6 year old will be riding a proper bus to school this year. Of all the (very legitimate) concerns I do have about the bus, lack of seat belts isn't on the list.
 

bekah

New member
I had heard, somewhere, that seat belts would not make a bus safer, so that isn't my biggest concern but I think my husband will be worried and want me to drive them and since you have to be a mile away to get a bus, there are a LOT of people picking up and dropping off and I really don't want to sit in that line morning and night with my other two kids! You have made me feel better!
 

lovinwaves

New member
My 35lb 5 year old rode the bus last year on a two lane highway with speeds up to 60mph.

My 34lb 4 year old rode on a "short bus" in an integrated harness on the same highway.

Yes, it concerned me a bit that my 5 year old was not restrained due to weight, so I tried to work with the school on it but they are not required to harness her by law. In the end, my husband and I decided it would be safer for her to be unharnessed on the bus, than harnessed in a passenger vehicle.

She is now 6 years old, returning to school this Fall riding on a bus and is only 36lbs.

My almost 5 year old is 35lbs and will be, again, in a 5-point integrated harness.

I have special training in school bus safety as well.
 

Dillipop

Well-known member
I drove my son to school most days last year. But... that was mainly because I was lazy and wanted to sleep an extra 45 minutes. This year, though, he will be on the bus most mornings, since I'll have to do drop off and pick up for ds2 at the preschool at his school. By default, he'll get a ride home, since they get out at the same time. He took the bus home almost every day last year.
 

Murphy's Law

New member
My dd will ride the bus home. I will drive her to school but only because she has to go to "before school" daycare. She is just barely 40, but I'm not concerned. It's probably a 10 mile ride to or from school.
 

DahliaRW

New member
My ds is going to ride the bus most days to school next year. I'll be driving him home because he's doing afternoon K at a private school down by his elementary school. But, it'll be his choice if he wants a ride 3x a week because I have to drive ds2 to preschool right acrsoss from ds1's school. I don't worry at all about bus safety, I think they're safer than cars.
 

icnee

New member
Mine used to take the bus every day, but this past year the kids on the bus were first verbaly harrasing him then they got physical and no one would do any thing about it so I will no longer put him on the bus, This comming year DD2 starts school and both of them will be driven because of the kids and the new bus driver plays descusting music that I will not alow my children to listen to nor will I listen to it. I wwill be moveing as soon as I can and then there wont even be busses where we are going so that will stink but at least the school will be closer.

Or maybe when we move and there is les stress in the house I will be be able to home school that is what I really want to do.
 

Evolily

New member
I'm paraphrasing a statistic from memory, but basically....

800 children died in one year being transported to and from school in family vehicles. In that same year approximately 7 children and 4 adults died on school buses. Keep in mind school buses are used for more than just to and from school transportation.

So, yeah, they're very safe and I would be comfortable with it. I'm sure having appropriate restraints for all children on buses would make then safER, but I'm comfortable with them being many times safer than cars.

And lapbelts reduce safety because they interfere with compartmentalization and cause kids to hit face first rather than spreading the crash forces across the entire torso.

And A&C ride the bus, even though they are not restrained and should have been for being prek age/size. I wouldn't drive them, I believe they are as safe or safer on the bus.
 

BudgieStew

New member
DS just weighs in over the 40 lbs and although I do drive him to school in the morning he takes the bus home. Him taking the bus is inconvenient(waiting around in the cold) and I have to drive DD to daycare anyway.

I worry more about the influence of the high school kids on the bus then an accident happening, although it did give me pause when he told me all the kids were moved to the back of the bus for extra weight one day this winter.
 

BW1426

Well-known member
A goes to private school so it's not even an issue, but we would drive her even if she could ride the bus. I know that buses are far safer, however the behavior on the buses is awful and they've cut all aids. I just don't want her exposed to that, especially at such a young age :thumbsdown:
 

TXAggieTech

Active member
I'd rather have the kids ride the buses as far as safety goes, safer on the bus than in a passenger vehicle. Our bus schedule is dumb though so I'd have to get up way earlier or take kids to 2 other schools anyway. Easier to sleep in and just take everyone.
 

Yoshi

New member
In Kindergarten, I drove her to school because of anxiety about leaving me, but she always rode the bus home. After that year, she rode the bus both ways. Of course, our roads are 30mph in the village and 45 mph roads the rest of the way- and it's only about 5 miles.:twocents:
 

Lemonade

New member
We live 3 houses away from our elem school so in a year we won't even have to think about it. But I road the bus as a kid - we lived in a rural area. For all the reasons other have said, I wouldn't worry about it. I'd worry more about the social aspects of riding a bus than the accident/belt issue.
 

amy&girls

New member
My DD rode the bus too and from school last year. This year she will ride it to school (unless we miss the bus) and home on MON WED FRI, I will be picking her up on TUES THURS b/c I have to pick DD2 up from preschool at the elementary school, and since I'm going to be there anyways, why not?
 

jourdysmom

CPST Instructor
16.6 miles each way to and from school. DD1, 2, and 3 will all be on the regular big school bus. Only DD3 is required to buckle as she will be 4 in the pre-k program... They will only allow CR's for those in the pre-k until their 4th b-day (so only up to Dec 7th), then all kids go to regular seat belts... I tried to get her in a CR, they said no way :(
 

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