That’s what I always assumed was the reason for designing them to be safe without belts.
There were belts on couple of the front seats when I was a kid (mid 80s).
Ironically that state had only just started making seatbelts mandatory for minors (I think under 16 or maybe just under 12). There were kids riding around in the back of pickup trucks on main roads when we first moved there.
We mostly don’t here in the US, either. It’s not federally required for them to have seat belts, but that may change in the future based off things like the NTSB’s recommendation.
Other countries have seatbelts on school buses, so it’s not exactly some cut and dry question.
It’s not even the case in all US states.
The NTSB recommends that we start enforcing seat belts on school buses.
https://www.ntsb.gov/Advocacy/safety-topics/Pages/schoolbuses.aspx
They agree with what you said, but disagree that the risk of being trapped outweighs the risk of being fired face first into a seat back.
As a school bus driver, I can say there is ZERO chance of being able to make the kids actually wear the seat belts.
That’s what I always assumed was the reason for designing them to be safe without belts.
There were belts on couple of the front seats when I was a kid (mid 80s).
Ironically that state had only just started making seatbelts mandatory for minors (I think under 16 or maybe just under 12). There were kids riding around in the back of pickup trucks on main roads when we first moved there.
Interesting. I live in southern Ontario and we definitely don’t have seat belts on buses here.
We mostly don’t here in the US, either. It’s not federally required for them to have seat belts, but that may change in the future based off things like the NTSB’s recommendation.