Interpretation ID: aiam4162
Jr.
Kansas Senate
430 Delaware Street
Leavenworth
KS 66048;
Dear Mr. Reilly: Thank you for your letter enclosing correspondence from Mr. Dennis D Furr of Lansing, Michigan.; As we understand his letter, Mr. Furr contacted you to express hi concern about a Michigan state law which permits loading school buses up to 110 percent of the number of persons for which the bus has a rated seating capacity. He believes that installation of safety belts in school buses would reduce the likelihood that excessive numbers of children would be carried on each school bus seat.; You asked for information on Mr. Furr's suggestion for school bu safety belts. I am pleased to explain the two sets of regulations we have for school buses, both of which are relevant to school bus seating accommodations. Before I begin, I would like to note that in July 1985, we responded to an inquiry on Mr. Furr's behalf from U.S. Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr., asking about requirements limiting school bus passenger capacities. In our response, we explained how manufacturers currently determine the passenger capacities of their school buses and that we know of no safety problem related to their calculations. A copy of our letter is enclosed for your information.; As explained in our letter to Senator Riegle, the first set o regulations we have for school buses, issued under the authority of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, includes our motor vehicle safety standards which apply to the manufacture and sale of new school buses. Some of Mr. Furr's concerns involve one of those safety standards, Standard No. 222, *School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection*, which specifies requirements for safety belts in small school buses. Standard No. 222 currently does not require safety belts for passengers in large school buses (those with gross vehicle weight ratings greater than 10,000 pounds) because large school buses are already required to provide high levels of protection to passengers through a concept called 'compartmentalization.' Compartmentalization requires that the interior of large buses be improved so that 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.; In his letter to you, Mr. Furr appears to be primarily concerned wit overloaded school buses and believes that safety belts would prevent schools from overcrowding school bus bench seats. We believe that this rationale for safety belts does not warrant a Federal requirement for belts on large school buses, since large school buses offer substantial protection to passengers and safety belts per se will not prevent users from overcrowding their buses. Thus, requiring safety belts in large school buses under Federal law would not assuredly lessen overcrowding of buses, and any possible improvement in seating accommodations would not be achieved.; On the other hand, we do not prevent States and local school district from ordering safety belts on their large school buses if they wish to do so. Thus, States may order school buses with safety belts if they believe this would reduce the likelihood that school buses would be overloaded. Issues relating to safety belts in large school buses are discussed in NHTSA's publication entitled, 'Safety Belts on School buses,' June 1985. I have enclosed a copy of the report for your information.; Our second set of regulations for school buses, issued under th highway Safety Act, consists of recommendations to the States for operating their school buses and applies to Federal funding of State highway safety programs. Those recommendations are found in Highway Safety Program Standard No. 17, *Pupil Transportation Safety* (copy enclosed, which Mr. Furr refers to as 'Federal Standard 17.' This 'standard,' or guideline, recommends that States provide seating accommodations of minimum specified dimensions for each school bus occupant and that States coordinate seating plans to eliminate standees. To reiterate, however, Program Standard No. 17 is a guideline for the States and its adoption is determined by the States. We have no reason to believe that Michigan has not evaluated thoroughly its pupil transportation needs in determining whether to implement the standard's recommendations.; I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if we can be o further assistance.; Sincerely, Diane K. Steed