I disagree with this seatbelt thing too, my taxes are high enough. I rode the school bus my entire school life as we lived in the country. Not once did we get into an accident and I don't see a need for them now.(seatbelts) If it does happen, where is the money going to come from??? I'm tired of the district just adding things on to our tax liablity!!! they don't think of us, they just spend! And if they do install the seatbelts, it's up to the parents to make their kids wear them, for heaven sake, make your kids mind!!!

First of all to you that are wondering about how the bus driver is going to handle the various actions of students in regards to the seat belt issues that may arise on the school busses. 1.we are all union members,and the number one concern we have is to transport your child SAFELY to and from school and other events, that is required from the School Dist. of Janesville. 2. True there are a number of concerns that we have,but these concerns will be worked out with the school admistration,the drivers and VanGalder Bus. 3. We got all next summer to "Iron" out all of the concerns. 4. I do know this that is is going to take a lot of working together on all parties part to assure that all rules are known and abide by, by all students and bus drivers,parents, and the school dist. in closing we can talk about this issue until we are blue in the face. All the bus drivers want is to provide the best service that we can and as safe as can be with all children of this school dist.

This is the last "arguement" I had with my father-in-law before he passed away. He used to love to goad me into an "arguement" as he loved the debate. This was back when they passed the law about kids being in belts, if I remember right. It was 20 years ago, so my memory is a little vague. My arguement was, why were they allowed to dictate what I chose to do in my own vehicle and then tell me I had to put them on a school bus with no buckles? Laws should be made to protect people from other people, not from themselves. Lame, I know. I was young once too.
School busses normally do not go very fast, are very large and the chance of injury is small. Busses also transport kids to events on I90 which of course, is a different story.
The bus driver being able to watch the road and make sure all the kids stay buckled would be difficult, to say the least. Unless the kid is up running around, how could you tell and keep your eyes on the road, where they belong? All I can say is that when I drive my childrens friends to and from events, the children whose parents require them to buckle normally buckle up automatically in my car. The children whose parents don't, have to be told.

No i don't know that the kids will wear them or not. But i kind of think if the driver HAS to do his job and make sure they are ALL buckled up,he could be pulling over a lot to get them to buckle,and MAYBE make it to school by dinner time!! Like i said,hope it works,but the ole saying goes,if anything can go wrong with this plan,it probably will,just the way plans are.

Can anyone tell me with any degree of certainty how many school buses in the Janesville School District have ever been involved in an accident where seatbelts would have made a difference one way or the other?

Very odd attitudes toward safety here.

Woodsman you dont know that for sure

NOT TO BE NEGATIVE "BUT" THESE KIDS ARE NOT GOING TO KEEP THE BELTS ON,GOOD IDEA,BUT MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN!!

Rep. Sheridan introduced a bill in his first term to install seat belts in buses because some bus driver in Janesville left a sleeping child on the bus once. Seemed like a bit much at the time.

fldpan-says"What about when the bus is on fire? The driver will most definitely die trying to free the kids, who might die too because they are trapped in the bus. What if it goes in the water? All these things happen just as often as a roll over." Where are you living that this happens more than a rollover or a bus hiting or getting hit by another car. I have been around a while and I have never seen busses bursting into flames. Come on dont get carried away. Its just a seatbelt.

It is unreasonable for the driver to be held responsible for keeping all the seat belts. Kids would take them off just to piss the driver off.
Raystone: your idea wouldn't work at all. If they stopped the bus each time 1 kid took off the belt, how long would a 1 hour trip take?

Jmags, good point. I am a school bus driver of 14 years. If this gets passed in my school district I will retire. And to all of you who say if the driver cant control the kids and make 12 bucks an hour they shouldn't be driving, I would beg you to try to do my job for one week. Oh, and I wish I made 12 bucks an hour, I have never made close to that in 14 years.
Van Galder said it themselves, in 61 years there have been 5 serious injuries to students on school buses.

I love the seat belts should have been done along time ago. JMAGS- If the bus driver cant handle screaming kids and making $12 an hour that perosn should not be a bus driver.

To enforce, the bus drivers will just pull over alongside the road when he/she sees someone unbuckled. And pull back out into traffic and resume on the route when everyone is buckled.

Who's job is it to enforce the seat belt law? the school boards? Oh no, it will be the bus drivers responsibility. the person who make 12 bucks an hour,and puts up with loud kids. he gets into an acident and everyone will blame him for not having 40+ kids buckled in. sure he can check every childs seat belt, but once he gets behind the wheel, he can't control children unbuckling their belts.

Oh yeah I forgot....$11,000 dollars is a drop in the bucket when the buses cost well over $100,000 a piece. So the actual cost of the new bus will be VanGalders.

this is going to be very interesting to watch this unfold! On the buses we have to watch out for kids bringing weapons to school and now we will have installed weapons for them to use. Already on the small buses the kids like to smack each other with them. I work on the small buses and even the tiny 3yrs olds in EC can smack each other with them and also get out of the seat belts and car seats with just the push of a button. (these are routes with aides) So if the EC can do this how is just the driver going to be able to "police" a bus load of Middle and High Schoolers. Can't wait to see the HS Football teams get straped into there seats!

The thought is probably good but Busdriver has it figured out quite well I think. WHO is going to make sure the children are actually buckled in? The driver has enough problem driving without that added problem too.
For all that, I see a number of people driving around with out themselves or their kids being buckled in so I guess they think the kids will suddenly do it while in the bus?

we all know the belts are needed. But refresh my memory, these buses are not only used for our students as the are not owned by the district. Van Galder does use these for other businesses and private functions so I dont think the district should be fully responsible for the cost of the seat belts. But then again the cost is not that much as to the safety and lives of our kids. IMO

Woodsman: first Van Galder is a business providing a service. Second the school district is the customer. Third Van Galder is supplying the equipment that their customer wishes. Now the customer needs seat belts so when the new contract is up Van galder can bid on the service accordingly. Here is another example if you still do not get it: Woodsman plans to charter a trip to a Packer game with 14 other people. Woodsman calls Van Galder, Riteway, and maybe Jones. Each charter provider can give Woodsman 4 options from a van to a coach. Woodsman (who is now the customer) decides on which piece of equipment to use depending on needs and budget. I hope now you can see why this is not a Van Galder problem, all they are doing is taking care of their customer.

Answer me this? The larger buses normally hold 75 students(that is 3 to a seat) now with seatbelts the bus will hold approx. 1/2(that is still around 46 students on 1 bus) How will the bus driver enforce this. Parents think the saftey level will go up? How are we to watch the road and make sure the students are in their belts? Sorry but parents think it is easy to drive a 48+ length bus and watch X amount of children but HELLO we have to watch out for parents who are on their cell phones and not following the signs posted on the road. Did no one on the board ride along on a bus first to see exactly what goes on.

As to “why do the tax payers have to pay for seatbelts???” Your kidding right?

I don't understand if van galder OWNS the buses,why do the tax payers have to pay for seatbelts??? If you take a taxi,and the taxi co. owns them,isn't it their responsibility to make sure the customer is safe?with seatbelts or air bags,or what ever it takes to make them safe? I think it should be the same with hiring a bus company to transport the students,if they "DON'T" have the right equipment to insure the safety of these kids,then hire a bus contract with someone that INCLUDES SEATBELT on their buses. I think van galder should take the bullet on the seat belt price tag!!

Yes, taxes may go up....but so will the safety level of our children on these buses. Nice job JSD. Alot of parents have wondered, for years, when and if this would ever happen.

Here go your taxes..........Up and up and away!