Fatal bus crash revives seat-belt debate

WEST PALM BEACH - A school bus crash that left one teenager dead has revived the debate about whether students should be required to wear seat belts as they ride.

Diana Kautz, a freshman at Royal Palm Beach High School, was not wearing the lap belt on her school bus when it collided with a pickup truck and rolled over last week. She was ejected and killed.

School officials are considering whether wearing the lap belts should be mandatory, and one lawmaker is calling for buses to add shoulder harnesses to provide even more protection.

"Just like when we as parents are going to work, we have a lap belt on and a shoulder harness. The same should be available to students on school buses," said state Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton. He brought up a bill that would require shoulder belts on school buses last year, but it was never heard.

Palm Beach County School Board members have said they want to review the issue but will wait until an investigation of the crash is complete.

The school bus in last week's crash was carrying nine students when deputies believe bus driver Maria Abrahantes ran a stop sign and hit a black Dodge pickup. No one was wearing a seat belt. The bus rolled over several times and landed on its side in the grass. Abrahantes remains hospitalized in serious condition.

Florida began requiring all new school buses to have seat belts in 1999, but wearing them is not a requirement for students. Slosberg said it's also not inviting because many of the belts are stuck between the seats, requiring students to untangle a belt to wear.

A report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that lap belts used in combination with a shoulder strap "could provide some benefit, unless misused." Lap belts alone can actually increase the chance of serious neck and abdominal injuries, the 2002 report said.

The National Transportation Safety Board says school buses are so safe - because of their large size and design improvements made over the past few decades - that seat belts could harm more children than they would save.

At least four other states, including New York and California, require the belts in school buses.

Only about one-third of 1 percent of all fatal traffic crashes in the United States are linked to school transportation, according to the NHTSA.

In Florida, the vast majority of students involved in school bus accidents escape with only minor injuries, if any.

Slosberg said no matter how safe school buses can be in a crash, lap belts combined with shoulder harnesses would only make them safer. He estimated the changes would cost about $4,500 for every bus.

"The bottom line is we have to do it right. We can't do this on the cheap," Slosberg said.

By Jill Barton THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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