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 | Child safety seats decrease the risk of fatal injury for infants and children aged one to four. |
| Lap shoulder belts decrease the risk of fatal injuries in young children and older passengers in passenger cars and light trucks. |
| Children 12 and under are less likely to die in a crash if they are in the rear seat of a passenger vehicle. |
| A greater number of fatalities of school-aged children occur in passenger cars/private vehicles during normal school hours than in passenger school bus transportation. |
| Most crashes (75%) occur within a 25-mile radius of the home. |
| Americans pay billions of dollars each year in injury-related costs for people who don’t wear seatbelts. |
DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE:
The personal and financial benefits of using seatbelts are concrete, and Americans support seatbelt legislation. However, not every American uses seatbelts. Stronger enforcement of existing laws is one way to ensure compliance and therefore increase use of seatbelts. Other efforts include:
| Targeting messages toward adult seatbelt use. Children mirror adult
behavior; when a driver is buckled, 94% of the time the children
riding in that vehicle are buckled. |
| Educating parents about the proper use of child safety seats and
seatbelts. Improper use continues to be a serious problem. Lap belts
may not provide good crash protection for small children because of
their small bone structure (particularly hips). "Seatbelt
syndrome," resulting in contusion of the abdominal wall, fracture
of the lumbar spine, and intra-abdominal injuries, has been identified
with 2-point belts following accidents. Similar injuries have been
noted with 3-point belts, although they may offer more protection
against lumbar spine injuries. |
| Advocating for school bus safety. Seatbelts are not required on school buses in most states, although a number of school districts have adopted seatbelts as an added safety feature on buses. Some studies show that 2-point belt use in school buses provide hip restraint, but allows for upper torso movement so the head may contact surrounding surfaces at a higher velocity than when unbelted. In 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reiterated its belief that "compartmentalization" is an excellent form of school bus passenger crash protection. Compartmentalization includes, but is not limited to, providing strong, well padded, well anchored, high-backed, and evenly spaced seats made of energy absorbing materials. In addition, lack of seatbelts on school buses may convey the covert message to kids that seatbelts are not needed in their family vehicle. |
RATIONALE:
Seatbelts do work. Many traffic fatalities occur when victims are thrown from small passenger vehicles. On school buses, compartmentalization also has proven to be a form of passenger crash protection. The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) supports NHTSA’s belief that it is important to develop the necessary data and science to review and evaluate objectively potential improvements in passenger crash protection for the next generation of school buses.
CONCLUSION:
Adults in a school district have an influential role in increasing motor vehicle safety for children by role modeling the importance of correct seatbelt use. School district employees can demonstrate a positive influence on youth by complying at all times with state law and district policies regarding driver and passenger safety in privately owned and school-owned vehicles. It is the position of NASN that district policies and state and federal laws must be adhered to when traveling to and from school and school functions in private-and school owned passenger vehicles and school buses.
It is also the position of NASN that school employees are role models and must be actively involved in promoting transportation safety by adhering to the following recommendations:
| Children must be in approved safety seats and properly restrained in a seat appropriate for the child’s age and size. |
| The back seat is the safest for children 12 years of age and under. |
| Children should not be in a seat equipped with an airbag. |
| All drivers and passengers must adhere to the use of seatbelts required by state laws when traveling in passenger vehicles and be strong advocates of enforcing standard laws in a highly visible manner. |
| School district employees shall promote behaviors on school buses that minimize all distractions to the driver in order to decrease the potential for accidents. |
| School employees, particularly health educators, transporters, and
school nurses, must be actively involved in implementing appropriate
presentations to children and young adults so they understand that
school buses and a small passenger vehicles are different. These
vehicles are different in purpose, design, and construction; and seat
belt usage in automobiles and compartmentalization in school buses are
both important safety measures to adhere to at all times when
traveling. |
References/Resources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Bike safety. (www.cdc.gov/ncipc/bike/problem.htm).
Lil Iguana’s Children’s Safety Foundation. Child safety statistics. (http://liliguanasafety.org/child_safety_statistics.html).
National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, (1999). Position paper - Passenger crash protection in school buses. (www.nasdpts.org/paperCrashProtect.html).
National Coalition for School Bus Safety. Seatbelts in new school buses. (www.ncsbs.org/facts2.htm).
National Safe Kids Campaign. Protecting kids from their number 1 killer – Unintentional injury. Why kids are at risk. (www.safekids.org./tier2_rl.cfm?folder_id=170).
National Safety Council. (August 2000). Air bag and seatbelt safety campaign. (www.nsc.org/partners/costs.htm).
U.S. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (www.nhtsa.dot.gov).
Adopted: June 2001