Expressing concerns over cost and feasibility, the group representing school bus contractors in Massachusetts told lawmakers they are not convinced that a law calling for seat belts on buses will achieve the intended results.
But the opinions of School Transportation Association of Massachusetts officials have not dissuaded lawmakers pushing bills to require seat belts on school buses. They argue that imposing the safety standard is a matter of “common sense” to extend requirements already in place for other vehicles.
Seat belts are not required on school buses in Massachusetts, but several lawmakers say they should be added, perhaps as part of the procurement process for new fleets.
“We require every other vehicle out there to have some level of seat belts and some level of restraints. This is our most precious commodity, our kids,” state Representative Harold Naughton, chairman of the Legislature’s Public Safety Committee, told State House News Service in a phone interview.
At a recent hearing, officials from the bus contractors group did not stake out a position for or against numerous school bus seat belt bills — a change from their previous opposition to such bills — but suggested there is not enough manufacturing capacity to retrofit the existing 9,400 Massachusetts school buses to add belts.
Retrofitting would lead to the voiding of manufacturer warranties, and used buses without belts would be “severely devalued,” with owners forced to seek out-of-state buyers, according to the association’s testimony.
An association official said that if lawmakers want to begin requiring belts on school buses, they should consider instituting a grace period for existing buses and begin requiring belts under long-term competitively bid contracts.
That idea is favored by one sponsor of a school bus belt bill, state Representative Garrett Bradley, a Hingham Democrat, who told the News Service that adding that language may give the bill some traction.
Frank Underhill, executive director of the association, which includes more than 100 school bus contractors and municipalities who run their own school buses, told members of the Public Safety Committee that passenger restraint systems would add between $11,000 and $13,000 to the cost of buses, which currently range from $90,000 to $105,000.
Underhill estimated six states require seat belts on school buses, but told lawmakers none of those states has fully implemented the requirement, due to a lack of funding.
Naughton, a Democrat from Clinton, said he understands cost concerns, but does not agree with them and noted accident-related injuries come with their own costs.
“We all know they will just pass it on to the school district and their other customers,” Naughton said. “Who’s kidding who?”
When a bus association official suggested more lives might be lost in a bus fire if children are belted in and cannot easily disengage their belts, Naughton raised the prospect of unbelted children suffering contusions, concussions, or worse in bus accidents.
“I can argue the exact opposite side,” said Naughton.
Senator Richard Ross, a Republican from Wrentham, said his district includes a large transportation company based in Norfolk, and he is aware that costs are a factor, but urged his colleagues on the committee to “think outside the box” about ways to protect children on buses.
Ross said that the fact there is still debate over whether seat belts should be required on school buses “kind of blows my mind.”
Aside from his job in the Senate, Ross works in the funeral home business.
“A life is worth saving, let’s put it that way,” he said.