I TEAM School bus safety inspections Should seat belts be mandatory WHIO TV 7 and WHIO Radio

Описание: DAYTON — There’s no debate that everyone wants children to be safe on their way to school. But there are huge arguments over whether seatbelts are the best, most cost-effective method to do that.

The I-Team’s Mike Campbell went looking for answers at the world’s leading bus crash testing facility called the Immi Company in Indianapolis.

The company believes seat belts make a huge difference in student safety during crashes and should be mandatory. They test daily and warn that even using their crash test dummies can upset those who watch the video.

The engineers at CAPE spend three weeks putting all the cameras and sensors on buses to gather information about what happens during crashes. Then, they deliberately crash the buses into a barrier wall.

Melissa Dobbs has spent 24 years working at IMMI and their Center for Advanced Product Evaluation or CAPE. She said, “It’s absolutely important. It’s our kids we’re talking about.”

Dobbs admits the sights and sounds of the wrecks are chilling. Even worse, is what happens to the dummies inside the bus. Current federal law calls for compartmentalization of children on board, meaning high seatbacks for protection.

“It’s effective in a head-on crash when the child is in a seated position,” Dobbs said. “It’s a very violent form of safety, deforms the seat, potentially breaking a nose and potentially a concussion.”

Dobbs said the images are much different when the fake children on the bus are in three-point seat belts. They are jerked around but stay in their seat and avoid head and face injuries.

The differences are even more dramatic when Immi tests rollover crashes.