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Deadly crashes lead to call for seat belts on school buses

Posted at 5:08 PM, May 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-21 16:56:27-05

Twenty people were injured Wednesday after another school bus crash, this time in Wisconsin

This comes just a week after a deadly school bus crash in New Jersey. Now the NTSB is calling for change.    

So are your kids safe when they're riding in a school bus on Las Vegas streets?   

Good news for parents as Nevada is one of a handful of states making school buses safer for kids. In the 2017 legislative session, a bill was passed requiring seat belts on all new buses starting in 2019. 

For years it was thought those extra-high, padded seat backs in school buses were enough to protect children in accidents, a concept called "compartmentalization."

After investigating two fatal accidents involving school buses in 2016, the NTSB is now recommending -- for the first time -- that seat belts be used on all school buses. According to a NTSB report "properly worn lap/shoulder belts provide the highest level of protection for school bus passengers in all crash scenarios."

And crash test video Contact 13 obtained shows how your child could be seriously injured in a rollover. Crash-test dummies are slammed all over the bus. 

Compare that to a test where seatbelts including lap straps are used. As you might expect, kids stay safely in place. 

Data we obtained from the Clark County School District shows buses were in 545 crashes in the 201617 school year. Many were minor, like a side mirror scraping another bus or tree branch.

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