Argumentative Essay: Bus Safety
Joseph Moore
Professor N. Esposito
English 101
February 27, 2011
There Should Be No Question When It Comes To School Bus Safety:
School bus accidents almost always bring some sense of anxiety. It does not matter if it includes injuries or if there are no injuries, the general population always fears the worse. The statement of “children are safer on the bus” goes right out the window when a parent is informed their child has been involved in an accident while riding the bus to or from school. However, that statement is a true statement children are safer on the bus than in a regular vehicle during school hours. The facts are parents put their trust in someone else to deliver their child or children to school and when there is an accident that trust becomes compromised and the parents easily blame the driver of the bus automatically. It is at this time the age old question comes into play. Would children be safer if they were made to wear seat belts on the bus? Ultimately, a child would not be safer if made to wear seat belts on the bus.
It is not the intent to discredit the severity of any accident but most of the time when a school bus is involved in an accident no one is hurt on the bus, and if there are injuries the injuries are not life threatening. School buses are designed to absorb most of the impact of any hit sustained in an accident causing the child’s risk of injury to become less. As a matter of fact, according to an investigative report done by the NTSB, “due to the compartmentalization design of the school bus seat, there were very few differences found between restrained and unrestrained dummies in a crash test.” (NTSB.com) These crash test were done as head on, side impact, and rear end collision. There is a greater risk of a child receiving a more threatening injury should the bus be over turned, however, most impacts a school bus receives is not strong enough to force the bus to its side or top. In these situations a restraint would
Professor N. Esposito
English 101
February 27, 2011
There Should Be No Question When It Comes To School Bus Safety:
School bus accidents almost always bring some sense of anxiety. It does not matter if it includes injuries or if there are no injuries, the general population always fears the worse. The statement of “children are safer on the bus” goes right out the window when a parent is informed their child has been involved in an accident while riding the bus to or from school. However, that statement is a true statement children are safer on the bus than in a regular vehicle during school hours. The facts are parents put their trust in someone else to deliver their child or children to school and when there is an accident that trust becomes compromised and the parents easily blame the driver of the bus automatically. It is at this time the age old question comes into play. Would children be safer if they were made to wear seat belts on the bus? Ultimately, a child would not be safer if made to wear seat belts on the bus.
It is not the intent to discredit the severity of any accident but most of the time when a school bus is involved in an accident no one is hurt on the bus, and if there are injuries the injuries are not life threatening. School buses are designed to absorb most of the impact of any hit sustained in an accident causing the child’s risk of injury to become less. As a matter of fact, according to an investigative report done by the NTSB, “due to the compartmentalization design of the school bus seat, there were very few differences found between restrained and unrestrained dummies in a crash test.” (NTSB.com) These crash test were done as head on, side impact, and rear end collision. There is a greater risk of a child receiving a more threatening injury should the bus be over turned, however, most impacts a school bus receives is not strong enough to force the bus to its side or top. In these situations a restraint would
References: 1. NTSB.com 2. JJ Keller.com 3. ABC’s of School Bus Safety by Susan Benson 4. GADOE.com 5. NSBA.com