Interpretation ID: nht89-1.9

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: 01/30/89

FROM: MAUREEN ANDREWS

TO: ROBERT C. SMITH -- CONGRESS

TITLE: NONE

ATTACHMT: ATTACHED TO LETTER DATED 03/24/89 FROM DIANE K. STEED -- NHTSA TO ROBERT C. SMITH, REDBOOK A33, STANDARD 222; LETTER FROM ROBERT C. SMITH TO SAMUEL K. SKINNER, DATED 02/28/89

TEXT: Dear Congressman Smith,

I am writing to you because I am concerned about the safety of children while they are on the school bus. I would like to find out if anything is being done to make it a requirement to have seat belts on the school bus.

As you may know, last week a 15 year old boy was killed on a school bus in Manchester. That is such a tragic loss of life. Maybe if there was some kind of a monitoring system that could alert the driver that someone's seat belt wasn't fastened, then perhaps we could avoid such awful tragedies in the future.

It would be hard for some children to get use to wearing the seat belts, but if it was a requirement, they would eventually get use to it. A lot of children are already use to wearing seat belts when they get in their own cars -- why not the school b us also?

Another concern I have is the number of children allowed to sit per seat. I have been told that in Derry they are allowed to sit three students per seat. Many times my son comes home and tells me how he has to sit on the edge of his seat because ther e isn't enough room (or because the girls push him off). If some of the children are not sitting correctly in their seat, then there will be more serious injuries or deaths in the future especially if the driver has to make a sudden stop or swirve out o f someone's way.

I am really worried about the safety of children on the school bus. Would you let me know if anything is being done to correct this problem?

Could you also tell me just how a parent can go about finding out what parents rights are where the school system is concerned?

Thank you for any help you can give me.