Would a Seatbelt Protect Your Child in the Event of a Dallas Bus Accident?

Parents and other safety advocates have long been concerned that school buses are not as safe as they could be. While buses do not have high accident rates, a bus accident in Dallas or anywhere in the nation can be a tragic event. As a Dallas personal injury attorney, I have seen too many families affected by the terrible losses often associated with a bus accident.

Many wonder if seatbelts are the answer to better protecting children in the event of an accident. The National Highway Safety Administration has insisted, for many years, that "compartmentalization" is enough to keep children safe during a crash. Other organizations, however, such as the National Coalition for School Bus Safety, don't believe compartmentalization is enough protection.

Flaws in Research Concerning School Bus Safety

The Coalition contends that crash data on school buses only addresses one kind of accident: front impact. During this type of accident, it is true that the high, padded seats provide relatively effective protection. The passengers during a front impact crash fall straight forward, into the seat and remain in their seat area, offering reduced incidents of injury.

However, the crash testing done on school buses does not address the fact that two thirds of all school bus accidents are not front impact crashes. The accidents that buses are most involved in are rear end, side impact and rollover type crashes. As you can imagine, compartmentalization is not effective when the bus is hit from the side as children would be ejected from their seats sideways, away from the impact, or slammed into the window and bus wall on the side opposite the impact.

Would Lap Belts Protect School Bus Riders?

A great number of people believe that seatbelts on school buses would better protect children in the event of a side impact or rollover accident. However, testing of these types of accidents are limited, with only one very small scale test being done by the NHTSA. The NHTSA has not admitted that seatbelts on buses are a bad idea, but rather site cost as an obstacle to widespread use. One cannot help but wonder, how can an agency put a price on the safety of millions of school children?

There have been many cases of successful litigation surrounding the issue of the lack of seat belts on school buses. One example of a successful school bus accident lawsuit in Galveston, Texas proved that there are times when current school bus safety measures fail.

Your children deserve to be protected. If your child was hurt during a school bus accident in Dallas or anywhere in Texas, contact a Dallas personal injury attorney with the passion and the dedication to fight for your rights and the rights of your children. Please do not hesitate to call 877.290.1382 for your free consultation. Together we can get your child the compensation she deserves and send a clear message to the school district: do a better job of protection our children or pay the price.