Interpretation ID: aiam4080
United States Senate
Washington
DC 20510;
Dear Senator Stevens: Thank you for your letter on behalf of your constituent, Ms. Kimberl Hallenbeck of Fairbanks, Alaska, concerning our regulations for safety belts on school buses. Your letter has been referred to my office for reply, since we are responsible for Federal regulations on school bus safety.; Your constituent asked whether our requirements for safety belts appl to the used school buses purchased by her company. As explained below, the answer is no.; We contacted Ms. Hallenbeck's company, Wilbur & Son, on February 13 t obtain more information about her inquiry. Wilbur & Son explained that it purchased two used 1980 large school buses for its shuttle service which had been certified by their manufacturer as meeting our school bus safety standards. The company has been requested to install safety belts in those vehicles, but believes this is unnecessary. The company requested us to clarify our requirements for safety belts on large school buses (i.e., school buses with gross vehicle weight ratings over 10,000 pounds). We appreciate this opportunity to do so.; The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) i responsible for developing safety standards for all new motor vehicles, including school buses. NHTSA does not require safety belts in large new school buses because we issued a safety standard in 1977 (Standard No. 222, *School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection*) to require those buses to provide improved crash protection to passengers through a concept called 'compartmentalization.' Compartmentalization requires that the interior of large buses be improved so that school children are protected without the need to fasten safety belts. The seating improvements include higher and stronger seat backs, additional seat padding, and better seat spacing and performance. Our safety standards do require safety belts for passengers in smaller school buses since those buses do not offer the same protection as that provided by compartmentalization.; Although we have determined that a safety standard *requiring* safet belts in those buses is not warranted at this time, NHTSA has tentatively determined that an amendment to Standard No. 222 might be necessary to set performance requirements for safety belts voluntarily installed on large new school buses. We recently issued such a proposal. If it is adopted, we would require manufacturers to ensure that safety belts voluntarily installed on new school buses meet performance criteria established by our safety standards. We emphasize that such a requirement would apply to the manufacture of new school buses only, and would not apply to persons retrofitting safety belts on large school buses already in use. A copy of our rulemaking notice is enclosed.; We are enclosing a copy of a report issued by NHTSA entitled 'Safet Belts in School Buses' (June 1985), which might be of interest to your constituents. In addition, we are providing your constituents with a copy of Safety Standard No. 222, and information sheets which describe our motor vehicle safety standards generally and how to obtain copies of individual safety standards or regulations.; I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to contact m office if we can be of further assistance.; Sincerely, Erika Z. Jones, Chief Counsel