Please tell me the bus will be ok without seatbelts/boosters!

*Spoiledinmyhouseofblue* · Aug 13, 2008

I thought I was ok with this and now 9 days till school starts and I am freaking out about my son riding the bus.
I am so afraid he is going to be bouncing around on the bus. I keep having dreams they are crashing on the bus! I hate this!
Someone tell me it will be ok! I need some links or something.

Gypsy · Aug 13, 2008

School busses are very safe!

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/sit...CM1000002c567798RCRD&overrideViewName=Article

BookMama · Aug 13, 2008

I agree with Gypsy - no need to worry. However, you should definitely be reviewing school bus safety with Michael and ensuring how important it is that he remain seated properly at all times. :thumbsup:

raelynn · Aug 13, 2008

BookMama said:
I agree with Gypsy - no need to worry. However, you should definitely be reviewing school bus safety with Michael and ensuring how important it is that he remain seated properly at all times. :thumbsup:

:yeahthat: Buses are incredibly safe. The seats are so high up intentionally, so that if another vehicle hits the bus, it goes UNDER the seats and the children stay safe. The seats are padded and designed to protect the children. Please stress the importance of him keeping his legs out of the aisle though, it's the #1 issue I have with my bus kids, and if were were in an accident and they were leaning into the aisle talking to another child, they wouldn't be protected within their seat.

Defrost · Aug 13, 2008

We just got back from registering my kiddos, and we got a sheet from the bus people with all the bus rules. I pointed them out while we were waiting in line for the forms, and I intend to discuss them AGAIN while we're waiting for the bus the first day, and let them know that regardless of how well the bus driver makes everyone else follow those rules, if THEY disobey the rules, *I* will discipline them, and that will be in addition to anything the bus driver comes up with!

tanyaandallie · Aug 13, 2008

I know it's just so hard to imagine that they are safer in a bus than in your car strapped in, but school buses are very safe. He will be fine!!!

tens00 · Aug 13, 2008

Are you certain they don't have seatbelts? My daughter's school bus and camp bus both have belts. I too read that they are safe which helped because I'm a freak about car seat safety!

Victorious4 · Aug 13, 2008

School buses are 8 times safer than driving kiddo to school in the family car :twocents: The biggest risk is for preschool kids.

This is full of information > http://www.safekidswebinars.org/Road_Safety_School_Bus_Training_Module_2008_07.pdf

tens00 said:
Are you certain they don't have seatbelts? My daughter's school bus and camp bus both have belts. I too read that they are safe which helped because I'm a freak about car seat safety!

Lap-only belts on school buses are pretty much useless: they increase the risk of abdominal & spinal injuries. Lap/shoulder belts are great, but they also need to fit properly.

P.S. one reason I love sending kiddo off to school on the bus rather than driving her like I used to is that now I don't worry: "what if we crash together & then she doesn't have her mama to take care of her...?!"

(I guess I might be in the minority on that line of thinking, though)

Jeanum · Aug 13, 2008

I actually feel the same way now, Papooses, with a year of kindergarten and school bus riding to and from school under DD1's belt.

As a SAHM, if I were to drive her each way, 5 days a week, it would wrack up additional miles in our own vehicle and increase our odds of being in a crash compared to the statistical odds of a school bus crash. Driving her to school and back wouldn't be just me and DD1. Driving her would also involve DD2, who would accompany me for the twice week daily round trip to and from school, along with burning extra fuel at $4/gallon, and more overall wear and tear on my vehicle. Thanks again to you and others who reassured me last year about the school bus. :thumbsup:

*Spoiledinmyhouseofblue* · Aug 14, 2008

Thanks everyone! You made me feel so much better!!!! I will stress to him the importance of staying seated and not sticking his feet out in the aisle...... ANything else you can think of? Open house is tonight(7:15pm) mabey they will have rules then?

Victorious4 · Aug 14, 2008

We just finished our "back to school" school bus activity pages

I got ours at last year's Lifesavers & NHTSA conferences, but there are some things available online...

http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/outreach/KidsPage/archive/bussafety/bckschool_safely/index.html
http://itre.ncsu.edu/GHSP/NCBUSSAFETY.html
http://www.nysgtsc.state.ny.us/Kids/kid-schl.htm#top

mommyto2angelgirls · Aug 14, 2008

op i drove a school bus for 3 years. buses are very safe and are designed to prtect children in an accident. i have seen many buses get hit by a variety of different vehicles. the bus is ment to fold at certain spots and i have never seen the inside of one even dented. my friends bus was hit at a high rate of speed bya car that shoved the bus off the road into a tree. all of the children were fine. the bus was heavily damaged onthe outside but nothing on the inside. the is more metal there then you think.
just review with your ds the rules of the bus. basically that is bottom needs to be on the seat at all times. no turning around and always tell him no yelling. most children are fine on the bus. and at a young age the bus driver will often remind them to stay sitting. you can also help by sending a book for him to look at to keep him entertained. and if you have any question on his riding and if he is behaving ask the driver. i loved when parents would ask if there child was behaving and following the rules. they will be honest with you and tell you exactly how you child is acting.

Milkie&Cookie · Aug 14, 2008

At what size do you feel riding in the school bus is as safe as being harnessed in a vehicle? DS is 6, but is tiny. He is 42 inches and 36 lbs soaking wet. I highly doubt that he would be good about sitting with his butt on the seat and not turning around. He can't do that at the kitchen table much less on the bus

He goes to a private school so a lot of the field trips are with parents. Last year I was able to go to many of them because I worked only 3 days a week and DD was younger. Now that DD would be disruptive and I work 4 days a week, I can see situations where DS would need to ride on the bus. What do you all think?

mommyto2angelgirls · Aug 14, 2008

i've seen kids of all sizes on the bus. i think it depends on the maturity of the child how safe they will be. perhaps talking to him about the seriouness of a crash and how sitting properly will protect him. the lap belts on buses are useless...they are hard to adjust and expensive for companies to put in. plus most kids just take them off. do you live in neighborhood with older kids maybe 7 or 8. a bus buddy could help. i had a few on my bus where i assigned an older kid to sit with a younger kid who would forget the rules and turn around or try to stand up to see something. i had a few third grade girls who were willing to do it. i gave them a little treat at the end of each week...like lollipops or packs of gum. they enjoyed the feeling of responsibility and they helped keep my little riders safe. if you have neighborhood kid maybe you could ask them to help keep an eye on him. you can't keep him out of feildtrips as they are so important to learning and most teachers refer to them for the entire unit they are teaching. i think keeping kids out of fireldtrips because a parent can't go hurts the childs education.

*Spoiledinmyhouseofblue* · Aug 14, 2008

Ok, just got back from orientation adn one mom was saying how the buses have fender benders at least once a month....there was a handful of times where the kids had to go to the hospital!

Now, I am nervous and not sure!!!! OH MY!

Simplysomething · Aug 14, 2008

*Spoiledinmyhouseofblue* said:
Ok, just got back from orientation adn one mom was saying how the buses have fender benders at least once a month....there was a handful of times where the kids had to go to the hospital!
Now, I am nervous and not sure!!!! OH MY!

A handful.

Out of how many millions of miles driven daily? Now, compare that to children driven by their own parents, in their own vehicles.

To the person who asked what size, I'd think that if your child is smaller than the average 5 year old, then I'd think twice, because of that debate over whether or not buses protect the smallest passengers well.

Really, it's scary for all parents to send their kids off to school on the bus. Even more so to parents like us, who obsess over child passenger safety, but yeah....kiddo will be fine.

raelynn · Aug 14, 2008

*Spoiledinmyhouseofblue* said:
Ok, just got back from orientation adn one mom was saying how the buses have fender benders at least once a month....there was a handful of times where the kids had to go to the hospital!
Now, I am nervous and not sure!!!! OH MY!

A handful of times a month is really small, especially if there are hundreds of buses doing the school runs for that city. As a bus driver, I hear the fender benders on the radio, and I would say 9 times out of 10, it is not our driver's fault, but rather vehicles trying to squeeze in between the bus and the curb when the bus is making a right turn, or running red lights when the bus is trying to clear the intersection. I can only recall once instance in our fleet (out of 150 or so buses in our little division) where kids had to go to the hospital. The driver had to slam on her brakes and the children were standing up in the aisle, hopping seats etc, and a couple children flew to the front of the bus and hit the windshield (thus why I emphasized in my post above, the importance of making sure kids stay in their seat with their legs out of the aisle).

Defrost · Aug 15, 2008

raelynn said:
A handful of times a month is really small, especially if there are hundreds of buses doing the school runs for that city. As a bus driver, I hear the fender benders on the radio, and I would say 9 times out of 10, it is not our driver's fault, but rather vehicles trying to squeeze in between the bus and the curb when the bus is making a right turn, or running red lights when the bus is trying to clear the intersection.

Exactly - and also, they are ten times more likely to take kids to the hospital after a minor crash on the bus than if it happened in your own car. Because of liability issues, they will want every child with a bruised elbow checked out at the hospital. Just because they got in a fender-bender and took several kids to the ER doesn't mean they were injured - it just means they were covering their butts (as they should be!)

monzogary · Aug 15, 2008

I currently only let my teenager ride the bus, one of the biggest reasons being that about half of the bus drivers here don't wear their seat belts correctly. I sat at my dd's elementary school a few times last school year, and I counted that exactly half of the drivers either put the shoulder belt behind their back or under their arm. They also don't really make the kids sit down on the bus. I see way too many kids turned around, standing up, too many per seat etc, for me to feel comfortable with my two youngest riding the bus. What would happen to all these little kids if there was even a minor crash and the driver was incapacitated because they weren't properly restrained themselves? Now if the drivers were more responsible (for themselves AND the children) then I may reconsider. But for now, until my two youngest kids are older, I will be driving them the 1.5 and 5 miles respectively to school.

SafeDad · Aug 15, 2008

Check out tomorrow's blog;-)

www.carseatblog.com

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