Should I let DS ride the church bus?

amandaj553 · Sep 23, 2015

DS has a church activity on Saturday from 8am - 1:30pm, and they are taking the church bus. You can choose to drive, and it is $3 to drive. DS is going with the other kids and the men in charge of the event... and DH may also attend depending on work schedule.

I'm debating the safety of the church bus... it has individual seats that all face the front, so maybe the compartmentalization is adequate. It does have seatbelts, but they are lap belts only. Normally DS (almost 7, 53lbs, 48") rides in a highback booster, but obviously he couldn't do that in these seats. Would you be ok with your child riding this bus?

I don't know how to describe it... it's not a van, but not a school bus either. Here is a web address with a picture of what it looks like.
http://automaxrental.com/wp-content/uploads/wow-slider-plugin/6/images/201225pax001.jpg

Please tell me what to do... driving would be so inconvenient, but I will do it if it's safer for DS.

jjordan · Sep 23, 2015

That looks a lot like the church bus I rode on as a teen. I honestly don't know any safety statistics for that kind of vehicle. All I know is that my very safety-conscious parents let me and my siblings ride in it... perhaps praying the whole time, I don't know!

In your case, if dh were to attend then I'd just have him drive. Otherwise, I don't know.

Sorry this isn't more helpful. I am curious to know what others think.

Baylor · Sep 24, 2015

I would let him go on the bus. Sometimes I think that we have to let them do things with others and not exclude them because we want to in our own minds think they are safer.

bnsnyde · Sep 24, 2015

No. I'm OK about a lot of other things but not when it comes to a church bus like this with a lap belt only.

I've read about too many church van/bus crashes.

But really, who knows. Lots of good points made above my others. My 2 YO is going to the pumpkin farm next month with preschool on a big school bus. Should she go? I am fine with buses. But a 2 YO (and they have no belts to allow any carseats)? Well, it's just...not so ideal.
My older kids take a minibus sometimes via park district. They actually stopped using the vans after my second letter (coincidence or not, not sure), which just had lap belts. The mini-bus actually has kid-sized belts so I think it's pretty good, but I have no data.

TXAggieTech · Sep 24, 2015

Our tech update class covered these a few years back. I believe they referred to them as multi use vehicles and that they we considered a safe option. Until our church got rid of their 15 passenger vans a few years ago our family rule was that kids could ride in the school bus or the multi use vehicle but never in the 15 passenger van.

MamaChirpy · Sep 24, 2015

I would let him go on that bus.

Mama to 4 little stair steps
www.chirpylove.wordpress.com

Should I let DS ride the church bus?

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