Illinois study: U.S. speed limits directly impact deaths

[lugnuts]

there is one clear example which proves they don't care about safety, school buses, none have seat belts in any state yet in every state except NH we are required by law to wear seat belts. why is that you ask? because there is no point in fining a school bus, they would make no money since it would be basically them fining themselves.

I've heard there are a few reasons for that.

1) Buses mostly operate on suburban roads where the greatest risk of collision is with a vehicle much less massive than the bus, so the bus wouldn't experience the sudden (negative) acceleration that would necessitate restraining the occupants.

2) If an evacuation of the bus would be necessary, the smaller children might have trouble unbuckling themselves.

3) Cost.

4) Enforcement. What are they going to do, rig up a sensor system like in your car that lights up when an occupied seat doesn't have its seatbelt fastened? That goes back to (3) cost.

But yes, I don't know how they determined that higher speed limits caused the increase. Someone failed statistics.

In the first year that the new speed law was enacted, according to the Illinois researchers, there was a 17% reduction in the number of deaths on interstate roads in the United States.

NFS. You mean accidents go down when gasoline suddenly doubles in price and you have to wait in line for hours to get it? Nope, the speed limit did it.

please cost? come with what I pay in property taxes that mostly goes to the schools they can afford to add seatbelts and sensors to the buses. and around her the main road to the school is 45/50/55 and this is the burbs.

little kids can't unbuckle? thats a reason? ok so how is that an different with a mother and her kids in her suburban? do you know how long it takes to unbuckle a bunch of kids in car seats? its a pain in the ass to undo those things.

these are just excuses so people will believe the BS.

[FastDTS]

Its good to know that there are people out there (like the ones on this forum) that "GET IT". They understand speeding isnt the issue its all the other stupid **** people do while they drive. Its good to know that not everyone is a moron out there...

[lugnuts]

just this morning on the news a baby trapped in the back of a Burning SUV. so no different then if in a bus. so again why the mandatory seat belt law for cars and SUV's but not school buses? its about safety right?

[lugnuts]

Its good to know that there are people out there (like the ones on this forum) that "GET IT". They understand speeding isnt the issue its all the other stupid **** people do while they drive. Its good to know that not everyone is a moron out there...

I just wish people in Washington would "GET IT", maybe some day, till then we have to keep fighting the good fight.

[kpatz]

U.S. speed limits directly impact deaths

AHA! I figured it out!

The above statement IS true!

Lower speed limits increase road rage and accidents, which in turn increases the rate of fatalities.

Of course, they spin it to make it appear the opposite is true, to continue justifying underposted limits and revenue-enhancing enforcement tactics.

[StlouisX50]

Kpatz, road rage is exactly a result from people doing the wrong thing lighting the fuse of a some that have anger issues. Hell we all have had a bad day and got pissed at someone for pulling out in front of us, cutting us off, going way under the limit, hogging the left lane ect.

Recently I have been calm and just brushed off when someone does something idiotic because I know I have done something like it myself and didn't mean to.

Example my dumb ass.... Went for a small trip to Jackson, MO and sat at 2 green lights and almost turned left on a red light.

[supercowpowers]

just this morning on the news a baby trapped in the back of a Burning SUV. so no different then if in a bus. so again why the mandatory seat belt law for cars and SUV's but not school buses? its about safety right?

They're already safe enough. The best I could find quickly -

Child Safety: School Bus Still Best

Every year school buses carry some 24 million students and collectively travel more than 4 billion miles. Considering how many kids the buses carry and the distance they cover, deaths on the road are extremely rare. School buses have a rate of 0.2 deaths per 100 million miles traveled. The rate of deaths in automobiles is eight times higher.

That's how safety officials like to put it, because it's a statistically accurate way of comparing risks. Here's another way to look at it: Over a span of 11 years, from 1994-2004, a total of 71 passengers on school buses died in crashes. In the year 2004 alone, traffic accidents killed 31,693 people traveling in cars and light trucks.

Babies don't count; they should be restrained in any vehicle. A school buses' crash safety is mostly "compartmentalization" - simply the high, padded seat backs that keep passengers from flying all over the bus. That wouldn't work for babies, but the statistics seem to show that it does for school aged kids.

Then again, just like with the speed limit study, there may be more than the obvious factors to consider. It could be that buses simply don't get in crashes because they're huge, yellow and have flashing lights and reflective material. It could be that the crashes they do get into are dangerous and could be less so with seat belts. What we need is a proper study of the dynamics of bus safety so we know if it's really worth it to force every school district, even the poor ones that would have to use 15 year old textbooks for a few more years, to use seat belts.

It sounds like you're a parent. I'm not, so consider my opinion accordingly.

[lidper24]

The brilliant analysis that it was the 55 PSL and not the oil crash that lead to reduced fatalities leads me to the following:


Mexican Lemons for all! Lives are at stake!

[kpatz]

Also, school buses full of kids usually spend most of their time puttering around town at low speeds, with surrounding traffic also at low speeds. So accidents involving them tend to be minor. It's rare for a school bus to overturn or be involved in a hard impact, which are the kinds of accidents that send bodies flying around, leading to fatalities.

Plus, the seats are well padded. Though, when I was in elementary school, the backside of the seats weren't padded, so in a crash, we'd all fly into a piece of sheet metal in front of us. Fortunately, that never happened, at least on any buses I was on.

[lugnuts]

It sounds like you're a parent. I'm not, so consider my opinion accordingly.

I am but I could care less if the school buses have seatbelts, I just want the politicians to admit that some of these traffic laws are just to generate money and not about safety.

when I was a kid we would go on family trips to OH from MA, my dad would drive at night and me an my brother would fold the rear seats down and sleep in our sleeping bags. it was fine back then to do that, we never got hurt. nowadays we have to have the kids in 5 point harnesses in monstrous car seats till their almost teanagers. heck when I was born my parents brought me home in a basket that you hung over the seat imagine that today? and before someone says people didn't drive as fast back then I was born before the 55 alive BS. and the cars were not as safe as they are today. so with todays cars and safety equipment [with all the air bags (front, side rear side) making cars more padded then a room at the loony bin]we should be able to drive even faster then the highest speed limit.

Also, school buses full of kids usually spend most of their time puttering around town at low speeds, with surrounding traffic also at low speeds. So accidents involving them tend to be minor. It's rare for a school bus to overturn or be involved in a hard impact, which are the kinds of accidents that send bodies flying around, leading to fatalities.

so then when I am puttering around town I should be able to not ware my seat belt as well