WASHINGON - For the first time, the National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that all new school buses include lap and shoulder belts for every student. The move comes after the NTSB looked at a series of deadly school bus crashes.
Last Thursday's deadly crash in New Jersey was just the latest to boost pressure on school districts to do more to keep children safe. New Jersey is one of just eight states to mandate seatbelts on school buses, but it only requires lap belts, and it's still unclear how many students were wearing them.
Brad Brown lost his 16-year-old daughter Ashley in a school bus crash several years ago.
"Not a day goes by that we don't think of her," he told CBS News. "Every time we see a crash that could have been prevented with lap and shoulder belts on every school bus."
The NTSB said even without seat belts, school buses are still the safest way to get youngsters to and from school. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates four children die every year in crashes involving large school buses. Experts believe seat belts would cut the death toll in half.
But retrofitting old buses would cost an estimated $7,000 to $10,000 a piece.
Most school buses depend on "compartmentalization" to protect students. High seats in front and back work well in front and rear crashes. But the NTSB found "compartmentalization" can fail to keep children safe when buses are hit in the side or when they roll over.
A spokesman for Montgomery County Public Schools said the district plans to buy 122 new buses in the fall -- and will be looking at buses with lap and shoulder belts. We're still waiting to hear back from Fairfax, D.C., Prince George's and other school districts on their response to the NTSB's new recommendations.
