Editorial argues for bus seat belts

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An interesting editorial from McClatchy Newspapers in Indiana argues for the addition of seat belts on school buses, pointing to the recent Bluffton University baseball team bus crash tragedy in Atlanta.

The article's author quotes Dr. Jeffrey Salmone from Grady Memorial Hospital, where the victims of the bus accident were treated.

"These kids were like flying missiles," Salomone said. He said the lack of restraints contributed to most of the internal injuries.

She supports her arguement with further documentation:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent a report to Congress in 2002 on school bus passenger safety. The agency said seat belts if used 100 percent of the time could save lives. But it also said there could be "unintended consequences" of reducing bus capacity and children using alternative, less safe transportation. Serious school-bus accidents are rare. Most injuries occur when students are trying to get on or off buses, not from wrecks.

This is the second deadly bus accident that involved a bus falling over an overpass in just four months.