9 Investigates school bus safety across Central Florida

FLORIDA — The deadly school bus crash in Tennessee has placed a new focus on school bus safety.

Investigators believe speed may have played a role in the Chattanooga bus crash that killed five children.

Channel 9's Michael Lopardi found out Florida law requires that school buses purchased after Dec. 31, 2000, be equipped with safety belts. The requirement does not extend to buses purchased before that date.

Eyewitness News checked with Central Florida school districts. So far, Orange, Brevard, Osceola and Volusia counties said all of their buses have seat belts. Lake County has six buses without seat belts and Seminole County has 50 buses without seat belts. Both districts said they try to use those buses as spares and they are rotated out as new buses are purchased.

State troopers said they investigate between one and two school bus crashes a week in Central Florida.

“Thankfully, the majority of these crashes that occur are very minor in nature and the children aren't injured,” Sgt. Kim Montes of Florida Highway Patrol said.

Transportation officials say retrofitting older buses can be complicated and expensive. Generally, those buses are simply rotated out when new buses are purchased.

“In most of our crashes, some kids are wearing them, and some kids are not,” Montes said.

Getting children to buckle up can be tough. Drivers have to keep their eyes on the road, and stopping to check can be time-consuming.

Most districts said they can refer students to the principal for not wearing a seat belt.

“It's one bus driver, possibly a monitor on the bus, and making sure that those kids are restrained properly throughout the bus for the entire bus ride is extremely challenging,” Montes said.

Officials said school buses are among the safest forms of transportation, thanks to their size and design, which help absorb the impact of a crash better than a passenger vehicle.

State troopers said most crashes involve another driver hitting a school bus from behind because they don't see the bus slowing or stopping to let the children off.

California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York and Texas have some variation of school seat belts laws, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Read related stories on school buses in Central Florida:

Cox Media Group