National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) new rule on school bus safety is “hypocritical.”
Seat and shoulder belts will be required on small school buses. The requirement will also change seat backs making them four inches higher in all new buses.Seats must also come equipped with safety latches that can be flipped up or removed without resorting to special tools. That’s the good news.
But large school buses have another set of requirements. NHTSA will not require seat belts in the kind of large school buses that most children ride in, despite research that shows it would prevent about 1,900 injuries a year. Instead NHTSA set standards for the seat belts, should states decide to order them.
Manufacturers are granted blanket immunity from civil justice should any injuries arise, according to the American Association for Justice (AAJ).
The same day this rule was released, AAJ released a report detailing how the Bush administration engaged in a campaign to include preemption language in over 60 proposed and final regulatory rules in seven federal agencies, including NHTSA. To see a full copy of the report visit http://www.justice.org/getoutofjailfree.