How safe are school buses in Tennessee?

The November crash of a school bus in Chattanooga, which killed six students and left several others hospitalized with serious injuries, has raised this question once more.

Legislators in the Tennessee General Assembly and at the Federal level are considering legislation mandating seat belts on school buses in the wake of the tragedy in Chattanooga.

Since 1995 there have been 11 attempts in Tennessee government to introduce seat belts on school buses, all of which have failed.

Statistically, school transportation is one of the safest means of travel. Considering the millions of passengers and tens of million miles driven per day, it's the safest way to travel in the world.

According to National Highway Transportation Safety Administration numbers, an average of six students per year die in accidents on buses nationwide.

Conversely, as many as 500 die each year in private cars, while riding bicycles, or while walking to and from school.

Accidents like Chattanooga, while extremely rare, always bring the seat belt debate and student safety overall back to the public attention.

Tres Beasley, Marshall County School District Supervisor of Support Services, which includes transportation, said that he wouldn't be surprised if new buses were required to have belts. While the district would do whatever the state mandated, the district wasn't waiting on state guidance to ensure student safety.

"The driver is the most important link," he said. "A bus is the safest thing on the road if the driver is trained, careful, and following the rules."

Indeed, the driver in the Chattanooga accident was reportedly speeding and was also on a winding residential road that was not part of his assigned route.

Certification to drive a school bus is not an easy process. A regular commercial drivers license is not enough. Bus drivers are subject to a background check, a drug test, and a Tennessee Department of Transportation physical exam that eliminates many potential drivers due to physical issues.

Plans have been in the works for a while to equip all county buses with GPS devices, Beasley said.

These would not only provide location information but also alert the school district administrators to speeds at which buses travel.

The district also ensures that the drivers and students have the best equipment that they can.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol inspects school transportation every year across the state and according to Beasley, the troopers tell them that the buses in Marshall County are "without question, the best maintained in the area."

He noted the quality work that Chuck Brown and his crew at the bus barn did with both the 45 to 46 buses the county uses and with the drivers.

Advocates for seat belts have a simple argument. If seat belts are required in cars as a safety measure then why not in school buses also?

Currently only six states require seat belts on new buses, including Texas, California, and New York. Texas recently passed their legislation in response to a bus accident that killed two high school soccer players on their way to a game, but later cut the proposed funding by two-thirds.

Cost is one argument against requiring seat belts.

Retrofitting existing buses with belts is estimated to cost up to $15,000 per bus, really straining some school districts budgets.

Accommodation for belts also decreases bus capacity up to 15 percent, requiring more buses to carry the same number of children.

Safety is a concern as well for those who do not favor installation of belts.

Buses are designed to provide protection without belts, compartmentalizing children within the seats not unlike an egg carton.

The ability of the youngest children to fasten or unfasten the belts is an issue that could possibly require another adult to be assigned to each bus.

Opponents are concerned if a bus was involved in a fire or was submerged in water that children would be trapped in the bus, unable to undo their restraints.

Studies show that belted children would also be at more danger from unbelted children in a crash. Secured children would receive double the impact if struck by others thrown about the cabin in an accident.

Regardless of the outcome of legislative actions, the increased focus on and the discussion of bus safety will benefit the nation's children in the long run.