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Seat belts on buses--your opinion
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 91970" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Here's something to consider - the legal situation may be less important. Find out what it is, and if it is NOT what you feel is right, then campaign to make a difference.</p><p></p><p>Kids hate wearing 'sissy' bike helmets too, but they save lives. And cries of "what kind of sissy are you, to be wearing a helmet?" have gone out when the law came in. "I'm wearing a helmet because it's the law," gives kids a face-saving out.</p><p></p><p>We had a cop show on Aussie TV in the Sixties & Seventies. Leonard Teale, n actor playing a cop, was also into racing cars in his spare time. He always wore a seat belt in his racing cars, it was sensible. But back then, seat belts in cars was very much an expensive option, they were not sold with seat belts.</p><p>But he took a stand and said that on the TV show, he would wear a seat belt when driving the 'cop car' to make a point to the public. They even had a story line where a cop took off his seat belt during a pursuit because he had dropped the two-way and needed to get it off the floor - in the story, the cop crashed and was killed before he had a chance to get his belt back on.</p><p></p><p>Then our law was changed - seat belts MUST be worn in cars fitted with them. And by this stage, all new cars were being sold with belts. Back then they weren't retractable, they were horrible things and people didn't always have them fitted correctly. And people like my brother in law who didn't want the government telling them what to do actually REMOVED seat belts from their vehicles, so they wouldn't have to wear them.</p><p></p><p>Then the law was tightened again - ALL vehicles travelling over a certain speed had to have seat belts fitted AND worn. By this point we were into the 80s. Just.</p><p></p><p>Buses - no seat belts until very recently. The law is - if seat belts are fitted, they must be worn. But no law yet to retro-fit.</p><p></p><p>We have other laws for smaller children which have recently been modified - these laws relate to what sort of child restraints and booster seats MUST be used for children under a certain age.</p><p></p><p>So if the law is a bit ambiguous, or not enforced as yet, then take a stand yourself and ask THIS bus company, THIS school district, to be a trailblazer in this.</p><p>Leonard Teale made a big change - the Victorian police force gave him credit for their implementation of seat belt use in their cars in the early 70s. His campaign led to what we now have - much safer roads with compulsory seat belt use.</p><p>This is in Australia and I know your laws aren't as tight as ours. But in this instance, where it's the safety of special needs kids in a school bus, I think you would be successful.</p><p></p><p>Encourage the officials in your area to either do the right thing legally, or make it the right thing to do, to ensure all passengers (regardless of age) wear seat belts where they have been fitted to the vehicle. An organisation can insist, where individuals have to fight peer pressure. An over-riding rule overcomes the peer pressure resistance. "Wear the belt or don't ride my bus."</p><p></p><p>It's like encouraging people to register to vote - it's not compulsory in the US, but surely a high voter turnout is a victory for democracy?</p><p></p><p>Good luck with it. This is a worthwhile campaign.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 91970, member: 1991"] Here's something to consider - the legal situation may be less important. Find out what it is, and if it is NOT what you feel is right, then campaign to make a difference. Kids hate wearing 'sissy' bike helmets too, but they save lives. And cries of "what kind of sissy are you, to be wearing a helmet?" have gone out when the law came in. "I'm wearing a helmet because it's the law," gives kids a face-saving out. We had a cop show on Aussie TV in the Sixties & Seventies. Leonard Teale, n actor playing a cop, was also into racing cars in his spare time. He always wore a seat belt in his racing cars, it was sensible. But back then, seat belts in cars was very much an expensive option, they were not sold with seat belts. But he took a stand and said that on the TV show, he would wear a seat belt when driving the 'cop car' to make a point to the public. They even had a story line where a cop took off his seat belt during a pursuit because he had dropped the two-way and needed to get it off the floor - in the story, the cop crashed and was killed before he had a chance to get his belt back on. Then our law was changed - seat belts MUST be worn in cars fitted with them. And by this stage, all new cars were being sold with belts. Back then they weren't retractable, they were horrible things and people didn't always have them fitted correctly. And people like my brother in law who didn't want the government telling them what to do actually REMOVED seat belts from their vehicles, so they wouldn't have to wear them. Then the law was tightened again - ALL vehicles travelling over a certain speed had to have seat belts fitted AND worn. By this point we were into the 80s. Just. Buses - no seat belts until very recently. The law is - if seat belts are fitted, they must be worn. But no law yet to retro-fit. We have other laws for smaller children which have recently been modified - these laws relate to what sort of child restraints and booster seats MUST be used for children under a certain age. So if the law is a bit ambiguous, or not enforced as yet, then take a stand yourself and ask THIS bus company, THIS school district, to be a trailblazer in this. Leonard Teale made a big change - the Victorian police force gave him credit for their implementation of seat belt use in their cars in the early 70s. His campaign led to what we now have - much safer roads with compulsory seat belt use. This is in Australia and I know your laws aren't as tight as ours. But in this instance, where it's the safety of special needs kids in a school bus, I think you would be successful. Encourage the officials in your area to either do the right thing legally, or make it the right thing to do, to ensure all passengers (regardless of age) wear seat belts where they have been fitted to the vehicle. An organisation can insist, where individuals have to fight peer pressure. An over-riding rule overcomes the peer pressure resistance. "Wear the belt or don't ride my bus." It's like encouraging people to register to vote - it's not compulsory in the US, but surely a high voter turnout is a victory for democracy? Good luck with it. This is a worthwhile campaign. Marg [/QUOTE]
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