COLUMBUS, Ohio — School bus safety has become a topic of concern. This week, a school bus overturned on its side and injured 23 students and killed one student on Tuesday. The Northwestern Local Schools bus overturned after being hit by a minivan.

The state does not have mandates in place that require seat belts to be worn on school buses. 

What You Need To Know

  • According to Rob Widener, the president of the Ohio School Bus Mechanics Association, said seat belts on school buses are optional

  • There are eight states that require seat belts on school buses 

  • Widener calls school buses the safest form of transportation

According to Rob Widener, who is the president of the Ohio School Bus Mechanics Association, said seat belts in Ohio are optional for school buses. 

"A lot of the handicapped, or special needs buses, have them for the students," Widener said. "Other than that, there are really no rules for them." 

He said school buses are seven-times safer to travel in compared to a car that's because of the way they are designed. Widener said the way buses are built are in a compact way. They have front and back cushions on the seat that could help prevent injuries. School buses are designed for children who could be as young as 5-years-old. 

"The way the shell of the bus is manufactured with standards," Widener said. 

Widener said there is a manual filled with protocols of what inspections school buses need to pass. It's from the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The manual is very lengthy. Some things they inspect are: seats, brakes, bumpers, emergency exits and kits. 

"There's actually a guardrail system in there that prevents penetration in an accident," said Doug Palmer, transportation consultant at Ohio School Boards Association. 

Palmer said it's up to each individual school district to decide if they want to use belts on buses. The National Transportation Safety Board suggests all new school buses should have a lap, or shoulder seat belt. 

"A seat belt for a high school child needs to be different than a seat belt for a 6-year-old child," Palmer said. "Having one seat belt may not be in the correct position for the younger children. So, we're waiting for more information. And I'm actually on a committee that looks at standards for Ohio school busses and we're waiting for information and data from these other states with seat belt mandates to see what type of injuries seat belts could propose." 

According to Palmer, there isn't a national regulation because there isn't enough data on seat belts in a school bus. So far, eight states have a requirement for seat belt mandates on school buses: California, New York, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, Nevada, Arkansas and Louisiana.

"I look at seat belts the same way you look at fire extinguishers," said Dr. Rudy Breglia, founder of the School Bus Safety Alliance. "They are absolutely a needed precaution to prevent catastrophic loss." 

Breglia is an avid seat belt activist who is also the founder of School Bus Safety Alliance in Ohio. He said seat belts should be mandatory.

"The compartmentalization theory is most effective when the bus is going slow," Breglia said. "When it's a forward crash, and all the children are seated properly. By seated properly, I mean they're sitting upright. They're facing forward with both feet on the ground. Now, children can't maintain that position for any period of time."