Interpretation ID: aiam4160
Chairman
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation
U.S. House of Representatives
Room 2165
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington
DC 20515;
Dear Mr. Anderson: Thank you for your letter forwarding correspondence from Congressma Howard Wolpe who contacted you on behalf of his constituent, Mr. Dennis D. Furr of Lansing, Michigan. Mr. Furr wrote to Congressman Wolpe with several questions pertaining to the regulations we administer for school buses. I appreciate this opportunity to respond to Mr. Furr's concerns regarding school bus safety.; I would like to begin with some background discussion of our school bu regulations. Our agency has two sets of regulations for school buses that were issued separately under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act ('the Vehicle Safety Act') and the Highway Safety Act. The first set, issued under the Vehicle Safety Act, applies to the manufacture and sale of new vehicles and includes our motor vehicle safety standards for school buses. In 1974, Congress amended the Vehicle Safety Act to direct NHTSA to issue motor vehicle safety standards for various aspects of school bus safety, including emergency exits, seating systems and occupant crash protection, rollover protection, and fuel systems. The standards we issued became effective April 1, 1977 and apply to each school bus manufactured on or after that date. Under the Vehicle Safety Act, each person manufacturing or selling new buses must ensure that the vehicles comply with our school bus safety standards if intended for school use.; Some of Mr. Furr's concerns involve one of our school bus safet standards, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 222, *School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection*. Mr. Furr believes that some State laws permit excessive numbers of children to be transported in school buses which he contends can result in unsafe seating configurations (such as a row of bench seats with one inch of aisle space). He suggests revising Standard No. 222 to require a 'three-two seating arrangement,' which we assume refers to school bus seat design and positioning.; We believe that an amendment to Standard No. 222 along the line suggested by Mr. Furr is not warranted. We are not aware of any data indicating that there is a safety problem with current school bus seating configurations or that manufacturers are or have been placing bench seats in a manner that prevents or impedes access through school bus aisles. In accordance with current requirements of Standard No. 222, manufacturers must provide high levels of crash protection for each designated seating position in their school buses, regardless of the configuration of a vehicle's seating. School bus seats are also subject to requirements ensuring access to school bus exits. The possibility that a State might permit loading school buses over the vehicles' rated seating capacity would not affect the manufacturers' and sellers' responsibilities under the Vehicle Safety Act to ensure that their school buses comply with this and other applicable safety standards.; As to Mr. Furr's concerns about school bus seat dimensions, please se the enclosed copy of a letter sent by NHTSA to Senator Donald Riegle, Jr., who contacted us with a similar inquiry on Mr. Furr's behalf regarding Standard No. 222's requirements for seat configuration.; The second suggestion from Mr. Furr was to amend Standard No. 222 t require safety belts for school bus passengers. 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.; Since large school buses already offer substantial protection t passengers, we believe that a safety standard requiring safety belts in those buses is not warranted at this time. However, we do not prevent State and local governments from ordering safety belts on their large school buses if they wish to do so. Most school bus manufacturers are capable of installing them in new school buses.; Issues relating to safety belts in large school buses are discussed i NHTSA's publication entitled, 'Safety Belts in School Buses,' (June 1985). I have enclosed a copy of the report for your information.; It appears from Mr. Furr's several suggestions for amending Standar No. 222 that his primary concern is with State regulations specifying how many children are permitted to be carried on school buses. It might be helpful to keep in mind a distinction between performance requirements, which apply to school bus manufacturers and sellers and are set by NHTSA, and operational requirements for school buses, which apply to bus users and are set by the States. We have recommendations for school vehicle use requirements, which I will discuss below in connection with the balance of Mr. Furr's letter.; Mr. Furr's other questions relate to the second set of regulations w issued for school buses under the authority of the Highway Safety Act. Those regulations, which are more in the nature of guidelines, comprise recommendations for operating school buses and apply to Federal funding of State highway safety programs. Highway Safety Program Standard No. 17, *Pupil Transportation Safety* (copy enclosed), which Mr. Furr references, includes recommendations that States provide seating accommodations of minimum specified dimensions for each school bus occupant and that States coordinate seating plans to eliminate standees. Each state determines how it will include Program Standard No. 17's guidelines in its highway safety program, and this agency does not insist on adoption of the standard.; Mr. Furr asks about Michigan's implementation of Program Standard No 17. Since Michigan state officials have informed him that the State has chosen not to adopt the standard, Mr. Furr asks if Michigan has either disregarded Federal funds or has accepted Federal funding and neglected to comply with Program Standard No. 17.; The answer to both of those questions is no. NHTSA administers annuall highway safety grant funds to the States to enable States to establish and implement their highway safety programs in accordance with the program standards we issued. In qualifying for Federal funding under our grant program, States are given discretion about adopting Program Standard No. 17. Michigan is thus not subject to sanctions for receiving Federal funding for its highway safety program in the absence of its implementation of that standard.; In a related comment, Mr. Furr suggested NHTSA withhold highway safet funds to any State that does not require the use of safety belts on school buses. As explained above, NHTSA's funding program for highway safety programs does not penalize States for implementing Standard No. 17 in the manner in which they have chosen. Further, it would be inappropriate for NHTSA to impose sanctions against States that do not require safety belts on large school buses since we do not believe safety belts for passengers on those vehicles are necessary at this time.; I hope this information is helpful. Please contact my office if yo have any further questions.; Sincerely, Diane K. Steed