School Bus Seat Belts Get Board Of Education Approval

Testing in Marion was conducted a few weeks ago on the possibility of installing seatbelts in school buses in Iowa. In a development that may or not be a result of that testing, it has been given the preliminary green light.

It's going to cost up to $8,000 per school bus to do it, but it's been approved by the Iowa Board Of Education to require those safety belts in all school buses in Iowa.17 districts in Iowa already have them, including Des Moines, where they are installed in 15 buses.

If final approval is given, the change could take effect as early as October of this year. A Board of Education spokesperson told KCRG the cost rounds out to be about 4 cents a day per child riding the school bus to put seat belts in, also depending on the life span of the particular bus. Hopefully, parents would be in agreement with Department of Education transportation executive Max Christensen that their kids' safety is worth four cents a day.

[Via KCRG]