Large school districts commit to belts on buses

WESTFIELD, Ind. — SafeGuard reports that it has sold “thousands” of its FlexSeat for school buses in the first year and a half of production, and large school districts in particular have been early adopters of the lap-shoulder belt equipped seat.

Last spring, the Dallas County Schools board of trustees decided to outfit all new school buses with belted seats before Texas seat belt legislation takes effect. The district currently runs about 1,650 buses.

“Safety of our children is the most important consideration,” said Larry Duncan, president of the board of trustees. “We take it seriously and have made an absolute commitment.”

In January of last year, the Loudoun County (Va.) Public Schools board voted to require lap-shoulder belts on all new school buses purchased in the district. As of last fall, the district had a fleet of 788 buses.

“We try to teach children to get buckled up whenever they get into a motor vehicle, and the only place they don’t do that is in the school bus,” said J. Michael Lunsford, director of transportation. “Repetition is really important to children.”

Both districts have been using the FlexSeat, which transports three elementary-size students or two high school-size students on a standard 39-inch bus seat, providing lap-shoulder belts and full compartmentalization.

“The fact that we’ve sold thousands of SafeGuard FlexSeats in the first year and a half of production demonstrates not only our capability to engineer and produce belted seats, but also that the industry is embracing our flexible seating solution,” SafeGuard Sales Director James Johnson said.