Each time our children ride in passenger vehicles, they must either ride in car seats or boosters or be strapped in by seat belts. If not, parents can be ticketed and fined.
Yet, five days out of the week, these same kids climb aboard school buses that aren’t equipped with a single seat belt. Are they safe?
The government claims that they are, as school buses are made according to stringent safety standards that exceed those for passenger vehicles.
However, one only has to view the footage from a school bus crash in another state that occurred late last year to question how safe these buses really are.
On December 19, 2019, a Northern Local School District bus carrying high schoolers in Thornville, Ohio, to the Mid-East Vocational School in Zanesville was struck by a Ford Mustang when its driver ran a red light, the Ohio State Highway Patrol reported.
Both the car and bus were spun around by the impact. The school bus flipped onto the right side and then off the road, hitting the guardrail.
The video, which was just released by that state’s Department of Public Safety, showed the 30 riders immediately before the impact as they either napped, chatted or engaged with their phones during the ride.
Suddenly, their peaceful ride turns into a horror show. The video shows kids flung violently out of their seats and up to the roof of the bus when the impact occurred and the bus flipped on its side. Eight student riders and the driver required treatment for their injuries, which fortunately were not life-threatening.
If your child is injured while riding the school bus, you have a right to file a claim for damages for any injuries and losses that they suffer.
