Legislators in Connecticut are deciding whether to make seat belts mandatory on public school buses in the state, according to the Hartford Courant.
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-ct-seatbelts-buses-0229.artmar01,0,1841006.story
The call for the law was prompted by that Jan. 9 death of a Rocky Hill youth, Vikas Parikh, 16, who died in a school buss accident on I-84. His demise was the spark that led Rep. Antonio Guerrera (D-Rocky), who is co-chairman of the legislature’s transportation committee, to introduce the seat-law bill.
That bill mandates that school buses have lap-and-shoulder belts, but not lap belts. Connecticut lawmakers have tried to past similar legislation 23 times before, with no success, according to the Courant.
Those who are against the bus-seat law argue that it’s unnecessary, because bus seats have enough padding to protect students. Installing the belts is also pricey, critics argue.
Some towns in the Nutmeg state have had seat belts in their school buses for some time, including Danbury, Cromwell, Wilton and Reading.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
Trial Lawyer Group Challenges Midnight Bus Regulation
The American Association of Justice, (AAJ) the national trial lawyer group that I play a brain injury leadership role in, has taken a strong stance to prevent last minute regulatory abuse by the Bush Administration. One of the worst aspects of the last days of the Bush Administration is there last days efforts to protect corporate wrongdoers from just claims from those injured by their products. The below press release from AAJ explains the nature of the challenge to such regulations.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://thelegaltimes.net
http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
AAJ Challenges NHTSA’s School Bus Safety Rule; Anticipates Long-Delayed Roof Crush Standard Next Week Preemption Clause in Rule Could Grant Vehicle Manufacturers Blanket Immunity from Lawsuits
Washington, DC — A final rule put forth by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) doesn’t go far enough to curb injuries associated with the nearly 2,000 school bus accidents each year, according to the American Association for Justice (AAJ). The association will file a petition for reconsideration with NHTSA tomorrow, challenging the agency’s final rule on school bus safety.
NHTSA’s final rule requires seatbelts for small school buses but only recommends seatbelts for larger school buses, fearing adding seatbelts on the larger vehicles would limit capacity and be cost prohibitive. Larger buses will be required to increase the seat back height four inches, just a fraction of the cost estimated for adding seat belts. The rule also includes preemption language that attempts to grant blanket immunity to the manufacturing industry that makes buses and their parts. The language would make it difficult to seek restitution through the civil justice system for injuries and fatalities associated with school bus accidents according to AAJ.
“NHTSA continues to allow corporate responsibility to take a back seat to children’s safety,” said AAJ President Les Weisbrod. “There is no reason to include preemption language that attempts to limit consumers’ civil justice rights in a rule about school bus safety except to give corporations yet another handout. Our children’s safety should be a first priority in school bus standards, instead NHTSA included an escape clause for corporate responsibility.”
Next week NHTSA is expected to release a final rule on roof crush resistance standards after years of study and delay. The current standard has been in effect since 1973, well before SUVs, prone to rollovers, were a popular consumer transportation option.
NHTSA was required to deliver a new roof crush standard to Congress by July 1, 2008, but was ordered by Congress to strengthen their proposed rule because it did not significantly reduce loss of life and prevent injury. NHTSA asked for an extension until December 15, 2008.
The timing is significant, because new Administrations generally seek to stay any final rules that have been put forth 60 days prior to the start of the term. The Bush administration had asked all final rules be complete by Nov. 1, 2008. A final rule put out December 15, 2008, could be subject to such a stay.
“On their way out the door, the Bush bureaucrats, continue to do all they can to try to take away people’s rights to access the civil justice system,” added Weisbrod. “We have seen this time and time again—school bus safety, seat belts, drugs and medical devices—the Administration thinks corporations can do no harm.”
As the world’s largest trial bar, the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) works to make sure people have a fair chance to receive justice through the legal system when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others—even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations. Visit http://www.justice.org/.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
Attorney Gordon Johnson
http://subtlebraininjury.com
http://thelegaltimes.net
http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com
http://vestibulardisorder.com
http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
g@gordonjohnson.com
800-992-9447
©Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr. 2008
AAJ Challenges NHTSA’s School Bus Safety Rule; Anticipates Long-Delayed Roof Crush Standard Next Week Preemption Clause in Rule Could Grant Vehicle Manufacturers Blanket Immunity from Lawsuits
Washington, DC — A final rule put forth by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) doesn’t go far enough to curb injuries associated with the nearly 2,000 school bus accidents each year, according to the American Association for Justice (AAJ). The association will file a petition for reconsideration with NHTSA tomorrow, challenging the agency’s final rule on school bus safety.
NHTSA’s final rule requires seatbelts for small school buses but only recommends seatbelts for larger school buses, fearing adding seatbelts on the larger vehicles would limit capacity and be cost prohibitive. Larger buses will be required to increase the seat back height four inches, just a fraction of the cost estimated for adding seat belts. The rule also includes preemption language that attempts to grant blanket immunity to the manufacturing industry that makes buses and their parts. The language would make it difficult to seek restitution through the civil justice system for injuries and fatalities associated with school bus accidents according to AAJ.
“NHTSA continues to allow corporate responsibility to take a back seat to children’s safety,” said AAJ President Les Weisbrod. “There is no reason to include preemption language that attempts to limit consumers’ civil justice rights in a rule about school bus safety except to give corporations yet another handout. Our children’s safety should be a first priority in school bus standards, instead NHTSA included an escape clause for corporate responsibility.”
Next week NHTSA is expected to release a final rule on roof crush resistance standards after years of study and delay. The current standard has been in effect since 1973, well before SUVs, prone to rollovers, were a popular consumer transportation option.
NHTSA was required to deliver a new roof crush standard to Congress by July 1, 2008, but was ordered by Congress to strengthen their proposed rule because it did not significantly reduce loss of life and prevent injury. NHTSA asked for an extension until December 15, 2008.
The timing is significant, because new Administrations generally seek to stay any final rules that have been put forth 60 days prior to the start of the term. The Bush administration had asked all final rules be complete by Nov. 1, 2008. A final rule put out December 15, 2008, could be subject to such a stay.
“On their way out the door, the Bush bureaucrats, continue to do all they can to try to take away people’s rights to access the civil justice system,” added Weisbrod. “We have seen this time and time again—school bus safety, seat belts, drugs and medical devices—the Administration thinks corporations can do no harm.”
As the world’s largest trial bar, the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) works to make sure people have a fair chance to receive justice through the legal system when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others—even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations. Visit http://www.justice.org/.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
Several New Jersey teens injured in Utah bus crash
Date: 07/17/2008 06:18 PM
PANGUITCH, Utah (AP) _ A tour bus went off a state highway near Bryce Canyon National Park, landing upside down in a creek bed and catching fire.
The Utah Highway Patrol says several of the 47 New Jersey teenagers aboard the bus were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. The bus also was carrying a half-dozen chaperones from Laine, N.J.
Highway Patrol spokesman Cameron Roden says the teenagers were injured from the rollover, not the small fire that broke out on the bus.
The bus was headed through Red Canyon, a gateway to the national park, when it went off the road Thursday.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
PANGUITCH, Utah (AP) _ A tour bus went off a state highway near Bryce Canyon National Park, landing upside down in a creek bed and catching fire.
The Utah Highway Patrol says several of the 47 New Jersey teenagers aboard the bus were taken to hospitals with minor injuries. The bus also was carrying a half-dozen chaperones from Laine, N.J.
Highway Patrol spokesman Cameron Roden says the teenagers were injured from the rollover, not the small fire that broke out on the bus.
The bus was headed through Red Canyon, a gateway to the national park, when it went off the road Thursday.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
Court finds Mitsubishi, 3 former execs guilty
Date: 07/15/2008 12:06 AM
By SHINO YUASA
Associated Press Writer
TOKYO (AP) _ A Japanese court on Tuesday found Mitsubishi Motors and three former executives guilty of falsifying a report to the government in a fatal accident suspected of being linked to a wheel defect.
The Tokyo High Court threw out a lower court decision in December 2006 that acquitted the three people, including Takashi Usami, former chairman of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp., the automaker’s truck division at that time.
At the center of the trial was whether the executives tried to hide a wheel defect suspected of being linked to the February 2002 accident. Shiho Okamoto, 29, was killed when a wheel rolled off a Mitsubishi truck and crushed her. Her two children were also injured in the accident.
A court official, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing court policy, said the higher court rejected the December 2006 decision by the Yokohama Summary Court that acquitted the three and the company.
Tuesday’s ruling slapped a 200,000 yen ($1,900) fine on each defendant, the maximum penalty for the charge under Japanese law.
Mitsubishi Motors said it accepted the ruling.
“We will do our utmost to regain consumer trust,” the Tokyo-based automaker said in a statement. The former executives did not immediately comment on the ruling.
Mitsubishi Motors stock dropped in morning trading Tuesday to 182 yen ($1.7), down 1.1 percent.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
By SHINO YUASA
Associated Press Writer
TOKYO (AP) _ A Japanese court on Tuesday found Mitsubishi Motors and three former executives guilty of falsifying a report to the government in a fatal accident suspected of being linked to a wheel defect.
The Tokyo High Court threw out a lower court decision in December 2006 that acquitted the three people, including Takashi Usami, former chairman of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp., the automaker’s truck division at that time.
At the center of the trial was whether the executives tried to hide a wheel defect suspected of being linked to the February 2002 accident. Shiho Okamoto, 29, was killed when a wheel rolled off a Mitsubishi truck and crushed her. Her two children were also injured in the accident.
A court official, speaking on condition of anonymity, citing court policy, said the higher court rejected the December 2006 decision by the Yokohama Summary Court that acquitted the three and the company.
Tuesday’s ruling slapped a 200,000 yen ($1,900) fine on each defendant, the maximum penalty for the charge under Japanese law.
Mitsubishi Motors said it accepted the ruling.
“We will do our utmost to regain consumer trust,” the Tokyo-based automaker said in a statement. The former executives did not immediately comment on the ruling.
Mitsubishi Motors stock dropped in morning trading Tuesday to 182 yen ($1.7), down 1.1 percent.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
One Dead, 22 Hurt in Mojave Desert Bus Accident
We say it in almost every blog, but the lower standard of safety in bus design and enforcement, appears to be responsible for at least one death and 22 injuries in Ludlow, California, on May 17, 2008.
The accident was a one vehicle crash, where the bus tipped on its side. The fatality was a woman who was thrown from the bus. Eight others were seriously injured. The bus is owned by Royal American Tours and Charter of Glendale. For full details on the story, click here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2c2933%2c356509%2c00.html
According to Fox News:
While the full investigation hasn’t yet been completed, two major areas of inquiry would be whether the woman was wearing a seatbelt and how many hours the bus driver had been driving, before the accident. It is unlikely this woman would have been thrown if she was wearing a seat belt.
This type of accident, with the vehicle just drifting across lanes of travel before leaving the roadway, is highly suspicious of a driver who had fallen asleep.
If in fact no one on board was wearing a seat belt, we are very concerned about the potential for all on board, even those who are not in critical condition for suffering a brain injury. This type of unrestrained motion, with a bus flipping on its side, is guaranteed to have bodies flying in multiple directions. Any time the motion in a motor vehicle accident involves directs and angles that are not straight forward and back, the exposure to brain injury goes up exponentially. Even those who were not seriously injured, should be evaluated daily for potential memory, headache, dizziness or other brain injury symptoms.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
The accident was a one vehicle crash, where the bus tipped on its side. The fatality was a woman who was thrown from the bus. Eight others were seriously injured. The bus is owned by Royal American Tours and Charter of Glendale. For full details on the story, click here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2c2933%2c356509%2c00.html
According to Fox News:
The bus was the only vehicle involved in the wreck on Interstate 40, about 115 miles southwest of Las Vegas, said San Bernardino County Fire Department spokeswoman Tracey Martinez.
“It did not roll over but it did land on its side,” she said.
Witnesses said the bus drifted across lanes and into the median, Officer Taj Johnson of the California Highway Patrol said.
While the full investigation hasn’t yet been completed, two major areas of inquiry would be whether the woman was wearing a seatbelt and how many hours the bus driver had been driving, before the accident. It is unlikely this woman would have been thrown if she was wearing a seat belt.
This type of accident, with the vehicle just drifting across lanes of travel before leaving the roadway, is highly suspicious of a driver who had fallen asleep.
If in fact no one on board was wearing a seat belt, we are very concerned about the potential for all on board, even those who are not in critical condition for suffering a brain injury. This type of unrestrained motion, with a bus flipping on its side, is guaranteed to have bodies flying in multiple directions. Any time the motion in a motor vehicle accident involves directs and angles that are not straight forward and back, the exposure to brain injury goes up exponentially. Even those who were not seriously injured, should be evaluated daily for potential memory, headache, dizziness or other brain injury symptoms.
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
Northern Kentucky School Bus Fatality
It is a bad week for Kentucky truck drivers and school buses. Wednesday a semi-truck driven by a Kentucky man slammed into the back of a school bus in Waldo, Ohio, sending three children and the bus driver to the hospital. Thursday, a 16-year-old was killed near Williamstown, Kentucky when the school bus he was riding in had a collision with a dump truck. For the story from the Lexington Herald Leader on the Ohio crash, click here.
In the Kentucky crash, the dump truck crossed the centerline and struck the bus in the rear of the driver’s side. Speed is a potential factor in the Kentucky accident. The dump truck was hauling rock from the Butler Rock Quarry in Granite County, Kentucky. The driver, Fransico Youlfo of Grant County, drives for XXL Trucking, Inc., which is based in West Liberty, Ky. For the story from Northern Kentucky Enquirer on the Kentucky crash, click here.
See also the MSNBC TV report on the crash.
Yellow means caution. Sadly, that cautionary warning wasn’t enough for either of these Kentucky truck drivers. But we believe that to protect the children and other passengers on buses, more than just the color of the vehicle has to scream safety. Saving lives requires more than yellow paint.
Ten children were injured in the Kentucky accident. How many of these injuries could have been avoided if the bus had been equipped with the same safety features that are required on automobiles – air bags and seatbelts?
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
In the Kentucky crash, the dump truck crossed the centerline and struck the bus in the rear of the driver’s side. Speed is a potential factor in the Kentucky accident. The dump truck was hauling rock from the Butler Rock Quarry in Granite County, Kentucky. The driver, Fransico Youlfo of Grant County, drives for XXL Trucking, Inc., which is based in West Liberty, Ky. For the story from Northern Kentucky Enquirer on the Kentucky crash, click here.
See also the MSNBC TV report on the crash.
Yellow means caution. Sadly, that cautionary warning wasn’t enough for either of these Kentucky truck drivers. But we believe that to protect the children and other passengers on buses, more than just the color of the vehicle has to scream safety. Saving lives requires more than yellow paint.
Ten children were injured in the Kentucky accident. How many of these injuries could have been avoided if the bus had been equipped with the same safety features that are required on automobiles – air bags and seatbelts?
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
Bus Accident’s and Brain Injury
I am a brain injury lawyer. What does that mean? It means I primarily represent individuals who suffer brain injuries as a result of the wrongful conduct of others. I represent them in lawsuits to recover compensation against the wrongdoers of such conduct. To take a look at what this means in general terms, check out my web pages: http://tbilaw.com and http://subtlebraininjury.com. For more about me and my background, go to http://gordonjohnson.com.
Why is a brain injury lawyer blogging about bus accidents? Because one of the chief culprits in the medical community is how little attention they give to brain injury, and bus accidents have as much potential for brain injury as any civilian catastrophe as imaginable. Let me explain:
First, virtually no one in a bus is ever seat-belted. This is particularly true in school buses and in rental car buses. Second, sometimes people are even standing in buses, especially municipal buses, like on Chicago’s CTA. If there is a sudden stop or collision, none of the safety developments that have been created to safeguard occupants in automobiles, will protect the passengers on a bus. Even notice that most bus drivers are now required to fasten their seatbelt before they drive off? Why is no one requiring the same for the passengers?
Let’s further examine what we know about safety and contrast that to buses. First, the safest position in a car, is facing straight ahead, seat-belted, with an airbag and a headrest to reduce the whiplash forces in case of a wreck. Each of these elements is important to provide maximum safety. Now, think of a bus.
Facing straight ahead. We know that if an occupant is even looking to the right or the left at the time of a collision, this significantly increases the risk of injury, because it substantially increases rotational acceleration. For more on the biomechanics of brain injury go to http://subtlebraininjury.com/biomechanics1.html Well in a bus, not only are the occupants not necessarily looking straight ahead, they may actually being seated sideways. This is a guarantee that they will be exposed to more force.
Seatbelts. There must be a bus out there somewhere that has seatbelts on it, but it is not a bus I have ever ridden on. In fact, the school bus industry has been fighting the implementation of seatbelts for years. How can we tolerate such idiocy?
Airbags. Without seatbelts, there can be no airbags. Primarily, the seat belt protects the passenger from hitting their head or being thrown from the vehicle. It is the airbag that significantly reduces the whiplash forces to which a person is exposed in a motor vehicle collision. We can’t even demand airbags until we can insist that occupants are seated in a position from which they can be protected.
Not Everyone is Seated. Would you let your child stand on the back seat of a car, while you drove down the highway? Not if you were sane, not if you cared about the law and safety. Yet, a child standing on the back seat of a car, is far safer in my opinion, than anyone standing in a bus, or commuter train. Simply falling over in a sudden stop without a collision, is enough to cause a brain injury or concussion. But if the bus collides with something, or worse, rolls over, what is to keep the occupant from being thrown against something, or even outside the vehicle? Anyone thrown outside a vehicle is at far greater risk of injury or death. I could write for pages on this topic, but there is really only one answer as to why this occurs: greed.
What we must have happen for buses to become as safe as cars, is a change in the culture of greed. All bus seats should face forward. All bus seats should have seatbelts. All passengers on buses should be required to be seated. When the all bus seats are full, it is times for another bus. Each of these items will add to the cost of riding buses, and that is the reason they are not implemented. Yet, in a society which puts such a premium on safety on the roads, how can we tolerate allowing greed and profits to take precedence?
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney
Why is a brain injury lawyer blogging about bus accidents? Because one of the chief culprits in the medical community is how little attention they give to brain injury, and bus accidents have as much potential for brain injury as any civilian catastrophe as imaginable. Let me explain:
First, virtually no one in a bus is ever seat-belted. This is particularly true in school buses and in rental car buses. Second, sometimes people are even standing in buses, especially municipal buses, like on Chicago’s CTA. If there is a sudden stop or collision, none of the safety developments that have been created to safeguard occupants in automobiles, will protect the passengers on a bus. Even notice that most bus drivers are now required to fasten their seatbelt before they drive off? Why is no one requiring the same for the passengers?
Let’s further examine what we know about safety and contrast that to buses. First, the safest position in a car, is facing straight ahead, seat-belted, with an airbag and a headrest to reduce the whiplash forces in case of a wreck. Each of these elements is important to provide maximum safety. Now, think of a bus.
Facing straight ahead. We know that if an occupant is even looking to the right or the left at the time of a collision, this significantly increases the risk of injury, because it substantially increases rotational acceleration. For more on the biomechanics of brain injury go to http://subtlebraininjury.com/biomechanics1.html Well in a bus, not only are the occupants not necessarily looking straight ahead, they may actually being seated sideways. This is a guarantee that they will be exposed to more force.
Seatbelts. There must be a bus out there somewhere that has seatbelts on it, but it is not a bus I have ever ridden on. In fact, the school bus industry has been fighting the implementation of seatbelts for years. How can we tolerate such idiocy?
Airbags. Without seatbelts, there can be no airbags. Primarily, the seat belt protects the passenger from hitting their head or being thrown from the vehicle. It is the airbag that significantly reduces the whiplash forces to which a person is exposed in a motor vehicle collision. We can’t even demand airbags until we can insist that occupants are seated in a position from which they can be protected.
Not Everyone is Seated. Would you let your child stand on the back seat of a car, while you drove down the highway? Not if you were sane, not if you cared about the law and safety. Yet, a child standing on the back seat of a car, is far safer in my opinion, than anyone standing in a bus, or commuter train. Simply falling over in a sudden stop without a collision, is enough to cause a brain injury or concussion. But if the bus collides with something, or worse, rolls over, what is to keep the occupant from being thrown against something, or even outside the vehicle? Anyone thrown outside a vehicle is at far greater risk of injury or death. I could write for pages on this topic, but there is really only one answer as to why this occurs: greed.
What we must have happen for buses to become as safe as cars, is a change in the culture of greed. All bus seats should face forward. All bus seats should have seatbelts. All passengers on buses should be required to be seated. When the all bus seats are full, it is times for another bus. Each of these items will add to the cost of riding buses, and that is the reason they are not implemented. Yet, in a society which puts such a premium on safety on the roads, how can we tolerate allowing greed and profits to take precedence?
Attorney Gordon Johnson
Chair Traumatic Brain Injury Litigation Group, American Association of Justice
g@gordonjohnson.com :: 800-992-9447 :: Attorney Gordon S. Johnson, Jr.
http://subtlebraininjury.com :: http://brainanatomyguide.com :: http://car-accident-rain.com :: http://tbilaw.com
http://waiting.com :: http://vestibulardisorder.com :: http://youtube.com/profile?user=braininjuryattorney