Atkinson wants seat belts on school buses

Kirsten Searer

Friday, April 8, 2005 | 9:51 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Students would be safer on school buses if they had seat belts to strap them in, Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson argued Thursday.

Atkinson recalled an incident in 2003 when a school bus in Ohio rolled to its side and students were thrown from their seats. Dozens of students were sent to the hospital, though no one was seriously injured.

A camera inside the bus captured video of students being tossed around and landing on the side of the bus, sometimes with their feet up in the air.

"They were marbles on the bus," said Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas.

Atkinson's bill, Assembly Bill 411, would require school districts to outfit their buses with seat belts by the 2006 school year. Districts estimate it could cost more than $19 million to outfit buses with seat belts or, in some cases, buy new buses.

Clark County estimates it would cost at least $1.9 million to install lap belts. But, the district said, it would cost between $8.2 million and $11.7 million to install belts with shoulder straps.

Kevin Curnes, director of transportation for the Carson City School District, said purchasing school buses with seat belts would cost an additional $5,400 and $8,000 per bus.

Five states require seat belts in school buses: New York, California, Florida, Louisiana and New Jersey, according to information presented Thursday to the Assembly Transportation Committee.

School districts expressed concern about the bill, largely because right now it contains no state funding.

Rural districts such as Esmeralda County might have to actually cut bus routes, said Superintendent Curtis Jordan.

Rose McKinney-James, a lobbyist for the Clark County School District, said some studies from the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Academy of Sciences have shown that students receive little benefit from seat belts on school buses.

"The jury is still out with respect to whether seat belts on buses are truly effective," McKinney-James said.

But AAA of Nevada spokesman Michael Geeser said many of those studies were done in the 1980s, when school districts provided lap belts, which he said can cause damage to internal organs.

AAA supports Atkinson's bill, even though the organization wants to see more study on the effectiveness of shoulder belts.

But installing the shoulder belts could be safer, and it would teach children to use seat belts when on the road, Geeser said.

"We're thinking about the safety of children, so our answer is yes, let's have them,' he said.

School districts also worried that they would loose seating capacity if they installed seat belts. And, McKinney-James said, children could be in more danger simply walking around the buses than in a crash.

Jordan said students could be trapped in a bus accident if they are wearing school belts.

"If that bus catches fire, you're going to have one big barbecue," he said.

Atkinson said he would fight for funding for the bill if it made it to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee. And he said he would amend it so that all new buses that districts purchase must have seat belts.

The Assembly Transportation Committee did not take action on the bill Thursday.