young kids in school buses - info please!

minismom · Oct 17, 2008

I remember reading here many times that compartmentalization is designed for an average 1st grader. I remember some mention of 60lbs, or was it 40?
DH and I toured a school yesterday and I asked about field trips. They said they start on the last year of pre-school (when dd would be 41/2) and continue through K and elementary school. They said they stopped using parent drivers and now use buses only. So I know that dd won't even be remotely close to the size of an average 1st grader by the time she's 41/2, she's in the 25% for weight.
I was hoping someone could send me some links to info on why the buses aren't safe for younger kids, even if there's extra adults making sure they stay seated properly. I might need to discuss this with the school when the time comes or with DH soon if this ends up affecting our choice of school.
TIA!

Victorious4 · Oct 17, 2008

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/buses/Guide1999/prekfinal.htm

http://www.saferidenews.com/articles_srn/schoolbus_childcare/schoolbus_childcr.htm

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;120/1/213

Preschoolers are the most at risk in typical school buses if they are not in carseats. My child, however, was as tall as the average 6 year old when she was in PreK, so I didn't worry. As far as I'm aware, it's not weight that matters, but height. The height of an average 6 year old is the goal for not having to use a harness anymore on a school bus.

kile529 · Oct 17, 2008

I think it may depend on your buses....My youngest who is 4-1/2 and 28lbs. goes to pre-k and rides the bus to and from school. The only reason I'm allowing it - is b/c they have 5-pt. harnesses in each of the seats. So - I feel like he's very safe on the bus. One thing to note - he is in the special education program - so it's run by the county agency - not the school district itself...make sense?

Another option - is to attend the field trips...just drive him there yourself and meet up with the rest of the class....

minismom · Oct 18, 2008

papooses said:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/buses/Guide1999/prekfinal.htm

http://www.saferidenews.com/articles_srn/schoolbus_childcare/schoolbus_childcr.htm

http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;120/1/213

Preschoolers are the most at risk in typical school buses if they are not in carseats. My child, however, was as tall as the average 6 year old when she was in PreK, so I didn't worry. As far as I'm aware, it's not weight that matters, but height. The height of an average 6 year old is the goal for not having to use a harness anymore on a school bus.

Thanks! Im gonna read all the articles now.

minismom · Oct 18, 2008

kile529 said:
I think it may depend on your buses....My youngest who is 4-1/2 and 28lbs. goes to pre-k and rides the bus to and from school. The only reason I'm allowing it - is b/c they have 5-pt. harnesses in each of the seats. So - I feel like he's very safe on the bus. One thing to note - he is in the special education program - so it's run by the county agency - not the school district itself...make sense?

Another option - is to attend the field trips...just drive him there yourself and meet up with the rest of the class....

That makes all the difference! If the buses have 5pt harnesses than compartmentalization doesn't apply and they're safe no matter what size they are. I'm assuming they use regular school buses with no belts, I guess I could double check..
I would of course be willing to go on the field trips and drive dd myself. I asked our parent tour guide and she said they allow parents to sign up to go on the trips but you can go to all cause there are other parents who also want to go. Plus I'm not sure if they'll let us drive separate or all go in the bus. Argh!

flipper68 · Oct 18, 2008

kile529 said:
I think it may depend on your buses....My youngest who is 4-1/2 and 28lbs. goes to pre-k and rides the bus to and from school. The only reason I'm allowing it - is b/c they have 5-pt. harnesses in each of the seats. So - I feel like he's very safe on the bus. One thing to note - he is in the special education program - so it's run by the county agency - not the school district itself...make sense?

Another option - is to attend the field trips...just drive him there yourself and meet up with the rest of the class....

My public school has CRs on school buses for special education and ExCite students (preK). The special education program also has E-Z on vests in various sizes and styles. I won't say they are always used/fitted correctly - but they do have them.

Call the school and ask about CR use on their buses. Since your child is so small, I'd definitely do some research ahead of time and be prepared to present a solid case (for your child needing to use a CR or vest on the bus) to administrators and/or transporation supervisors. Also: find out who owns/maintains the buses - sometimes the schools do, sometimes they have a contract with a transportation company.

minismom · Oct 20, 2008

papooses said:
Preschoolers are the most at risk in typical school buses if they are not in carseats. My child, however, was as tall as the average 6 year old when she was in PreK, so I didn't worry. As far as I'm aware, it's not weight that matters, but height. The height of an average 6 year old is the goal for not having to use a harness anymore on a school bus.

So I read all the links and I now have some solid info to back me up. Thanks so much! But I didnt see much in terms of why the smaller kids are not protected by compartmentalization. Do you know more? Why does the height matter?

Victorious4 · Oct 20, 2008

Overly simplified answer. . . .

Compartmentalization works because the seatbacks are tall & the benches are close together. Less room for kids to be flung around, basically. However, short kids take up less space. The shorter the kid, the less space they take up, the more space they have to submarine under the seat.

There are different types of bus design, though, so it's hard to give a really thorough answer. If your 4.5 year old is only average or less than average for her age, then I personally would push for carseat use on the bus. Perhaps you could try contacting your local CPST-Instructor?

minismom · Oct 22, 2008

Re: Overly simplified answer. . . .

papooses said:
Compartmentalization works because the seatbacks are tall & the benches are close together. Less room for kids to be flung around, basically. However, short kids take up less space. The shorter the kid, the less space they take up, the more space they have to submarine under the seat.

There are different types of bus design, though, so it's hard to give a really thorough answer. If your 4.5 year old is only average or less than average for her age, then I personally would push for carseat use on the bus. Perhaps you could try contacting your local CPST-Instructor?

Thanks so much! Luckily it's still a few years away. I read that California has required school buses to have seat belts (and I think I read some have harnesses built in) for a few years now. Maybe it will turn out the school is using buses with car seats, that would be nice! I'll wait to see which school we send dd to and then will do some serious research! Thanks again for the articles!

young kids in school buses - info please!

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