PBS News Hour aired a segment last month on seat belts on large school buses.  The piece, produced by Education Week, covered what we know from previous blogs, is a very complex matter and hit on most of the major issues.

In addition to recognizing that the yellow school bus is the safest vehicle on the road today, the story also noted that in order for seat belts to be effective, students have to wear them and wear them properly.

The story recognized that funding is one part of the equation, but there is also a matter of a school district’s overall safety priorities.  These can include focus on stop arm violations, greater efforts to increase safety around the outside of the school bus, and other safety issues – and understanding how seat belts fit into those priorities.

PBS and Education Week got it right that school buses are designed differently than passenger cars and that school buses are incredibly safe.  The story showed how complex the decision of whether or not to equip school buses with seat belts really is.