HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	71
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

requesting the Board of Education to study school bus seat belt policies and compile data relating to school bus safety and to report to the legislature with recommendations.

     WHEREAS, federal and state laws require certain motor vehicle drivers and passengers to use seat belts because seat belts provide a measure of protection during accidents; and

     WHEREAS, passenger cars, light trucks, and vans are required under federal law to have seat belts at all designated seating positions; and

     WHEREAS, neither federal nor Hawaii law requires seat belts on school buses that have a gross vehicle weight rating of more than ten thousand pounds, which is the standard weight of a large school bus; and

     WHEREAS, despite increased federal standards for school bus passenger safety and crash protection, there are still thousands of injuries to children throughout the country each year due to school bus accidents; and

     WHEREAS, children suffer both minor and serious injuries to their head, neck, back, and stomach when striking the roof, windows, seat backs, and other school bus passengers during crashes; and

     WHEREAS, the recent public school bus accident on April 3, involving the Kahuku High School girls water polo team, resulted in twenty-seven people being treated for cuts and bruises, and begs the question as to whether seat belts would have kept these students safer; and

     WHEREAS, opponents of seat belts on large school buses argue that strong, well-padded, energy absorbing seats and higher seat backs compartmentalize passengers during a crash, thereby providing adequate safety; and

     WHEREAS, a comprehensive, in-depth study in 1989 by the Transportation Research Board found that seat belts provide additional crash protection on compartmentalized school buses; and

     WHEREAS, in addition, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found that approximately one-third of the fatal crashes between 1977 and 1992 were non-frontal crashes from which compartmentalization is not designed to protect; and

     WHEREAS, most school bus fatalities occur in rollovers; and

     WHEREAS, crash test and case study data indicate that seat belts provide improved crash protection and are especially beneficial in side-impact and rollover school bus accidents; and

     WHEREAS, seat belts also reduce other types of injuries by restraining children who may otherwise be out of their seats, thereby improving passenger behavior and reducing distractions to school bus drivers; and

     WHEREAS, California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, and New York require school buses to meet a higher safety standard than established under federal law; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the Senate concurring, that the Board of Education is requested to:

     (1)  Compile and analyze data on all school bus accidents in the State in the past five years, including but not limited to injuries sustained and costs to the Department of Education; and

     (2)  Review and analyze the Department of Education's current policy toward seat belt use on school buses; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to submit a report of findings and recommendations regarding school bus safety, including issues related to seat belt use and any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2009; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to Chairperson of the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Education.

Report Title: 

Department of Education; School Bus Seat Belt Use