2025 NAPT Statement On Seat Belts & School Buses

• By: admin
• On: 03/14/2025 08:30:47
• In: Regulatory Updates

What can you tell us about the new NAPT statement on seat belts? Our new statement, which was recommended by the members of our Public Policy Committee and adopted unanimously by our Board, relies on our belief that our members must be empowered and enabled to make decisions that meet the needs and priorities of their communities and schools.

The new statement does not take an official position on the overall viability or efficacy of seat belts, but it does clarify (1) we'd recommend that districts considering the installation of seat belts purchase only three-point lap-and-shoulder belts and (2) we believe that lap belts are insufficient for safety purposes. We cannot definitively address the question of viability or efficacy as an industry association, but we can offer members our reasonable judgment based on information available to us.

The statement draws upon the work that the NTSB has conducted subsequent to several school bus fatality accidents.  NTSB has strongly recommended that the industry install and properly use seat belts (lap-shoulder belts) on school buses.  They have demonstrated through their accident re-creations that lives were lost in the absence of seat belts, and that lives would have been saved and injuries prevented if seat belts had been in place.

We felt that we could not ignore those findings and recommendations any longer.  Our position had been that we wanted to rely on science.  In all other aspects of transportation safety, NTSB's word is the gold standard.

Read the full interview | Our official statement