Designed for safety, with flashing lights, giant mirrors, high seat backs and that bright yellow color, school buses keep more than 17 million cars away from school buildings every day. Many people worry about the safety of having seat belts on school buses. Seatbelts on school buses can reduce injury and death by 50 percent according to ABC News.November 21,2016 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a school bus packed with children slammed into a tree, flipped over and split apart. In my opinion seatbelts can save kids lives. The issue of seat belts on buses has been debated for 40 years.

NHTSA estimates four children die every year in large school bus crashes.Michael Watkins was 9 years old when the school bus he was riding on the way to his Indiana charter school crashed into a bridge in March 2012.The bus driver, 60-year-old Thomas Spencer II, and a student, 5-year-old Donasty Smith, died in the crash. Dozens of other students were injured – including Watkins, who broke his femur.

School buses are one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States. Every year, approximately 450,000 public school buses transport 23.5 million children to and from school and school-related activities. U.S. regulations only require seatbelts on small school buses – those under 10,000 pounds. In 2010 six states California, Flordia, Lousiana, New Jersey, New York, and Texas require seat belts on school buses.