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- Sage 4, Terrace Bay-Schreiber News, Wednesday, March 7, 1984 The Terrace Bay-Schreiber News is published every Wednesday by: Laurentian Publishing Co. Ltd., Box 579, Terrace Bay, Ontario. POT 2Wo. opinion Are seat belts Telephone: (807) 825-3747. EDITOR AND MANAGER..............--.- 00525 seeees Karen E. Park EDITORIAL ASSISTANT ............. 26. e eee eee eee Lynne Badger ADVERTISING SALES.................-. eee eee eee es Sharon Mark eee PRODUCTION MANAGER...................--6 eee eee eee Mary Melo . DEADLINE: Friday NOON Subscription rates: $12.00 per annum (local); $18.00 CNA the answer? - by LYNNE BADGER I have spent the last two Tuesdays and a great deal of time in between and since wrestling with my feelings about the issue of seat belts in school buses. The "Information Night", I attended regarding the issue disap- pointed me. An outdated film involving the testing of buses in accident situations was shown not once but twice to make sure everyone was aware of the value of seat belts and high back seats (in buses that literally crumpled during impact.) The arguments against the use of seatbelts were barely mentioned. Based on what I saw and heard, and my emotional response, I was almost convinced that there should be seat belts in school buses. Then I began to ask some questions. If seat belts should be used in buses then why isn't it a law as it is with other passenger vehicles and why does only one school board in Canada have seat belts? I felt there must be a reason so I did some searching and came up with some interesting information primarily from "School Bus Fleet Magazine"' and the "Ontario School Trustees Council Reports" which I would like to 'share with you. "'Statistics from both Canada and the United States reveal that school buses are the safest form of surface transportation available - safer than all other vehicles combined."' "Occupant death rate per 100 million passenger miles if 2.40 for automobiles; 0.24 for regular buses and 0.06 per school buses."' "School buses are not designed for the installation of firmly bolted, anchored seat belts." "Seat belts in school buses, research shows, do not provide sufficient protection as passengers' heads, faces, necks and upper torso are permitted to rotate forward, striking the top of the seat facing them." "Medical persons state that due to a child's bone structure it is almost impossible to safely apply a seat belt to a youngster and as a result it could prove dangerous. The belt rides up over the child's hip bones and in the case of a sudden stop, there is nothing solid between the belt buckle and the child's spine. Doctors are already seeing a new type of visceral lesion produced by poorly fashioned seat belts - including crushed kidneys and ruptured bladders."' "In the event of an emergency requiring immediate evacuation, younger students may not be able to unfasten their seat belts." I also learned that buses no longer crumple like they did in the film and there is an updated version of those tests on film. ae The Ad-Hoc Transportation Sub-Committee made arrangements to have a person present the arguments against seat belts in school buses but he was unable to attend. Credit should be given to the committee for their attempt to present both sides but I came away feeling cheated. After attending the second meeting I did a great amount of reflecting. I had said at the meeting that I was not convinced that seat belts are the answer to safer school buses based on what I had read. To make a final decision, I then considered the bus accidents with which I was familiar through reports from people involved. A few years ago a car hit the side of a bus with L.S.H.S. students on it on the highway. The driver of the car was killed but the impact resulted in no injuries to the students or the bus driver. None of the students were restrained in seat belts. More recently a bus rolled over at Hydro Hill. There was little structural damage to the bus; 80 per cent of the injuries were of a minor nature; 20 per cent were serious and there was one fatality. The occupants were not wearing seat belts and all but one remained in the bus. per annum (out-of-town). Second Class Mail Registration No. 0867. Record rambling » I have concluded that seat belts are not the answer to safer school buses. I will, however, go along with the recommendation of the installation of padded high back seats and suggest that manufacturers also pad the ceilings and look into the reason for one passenger being thrown from the = a problem, according to my research, they have not encountered efore. The buses are only as safe as the driver operating them and I believe that therein lies the answer to school bus safety. Dr. Robert Hollenberg, a pediatric neurosurgeon at McMaster University stated that "since driver error is the principal cause of school bus accidents - about 25 per cent of the drivers involved in collisions committeed a driving infraction - there should be better selection and training of school bus drivers." This is definitely important, but re-training, re-testing and compulsory defensive driving courses may also be worth looking into. I am not suggesting that the local drivers are incompetent. ON the contrary, in two years of riding school buses with the volleyball team, I had only one complaint. I recommend that the Ministry of Transportation and Communications offer courses and re-test all drivers? We all make mistakes while in control of our vehicles and could all use a refresher course to minimize these errors. It is my. hope that the Ad-Hoc Transportation Sub-Committee will make _ similar recommendations to the Board regarding driver training and re-training. With regard to seat belt installation in Lake Superior Board of Education buses, only an act of Provincial Parliament could force me to tell my children to buckle up on a school bus. Until such time, I will do as Mr. Davey suggested and *'make other arrangements."' I would also suggest to the Board that they look into ways of reducing the amount of busing. Perhaps the semester system should be re-evaluated and possibly the transportation of a few teachers as opposed to large numbers of students could be investigated. Once again, I have stated what may be an unpopular opinion but I would like to assure Laurie, Ann, Vanessa, Sandy, and Faye that I have done so because I care. My editor, Karen Park shares my views and we welcome all opinions, be they the same or different from our own. This week's chuckle A little boy who went to the ballet for the first time with his father, watched the girls dance around on their toes for a while, and then asked, "Why don't they just get taller girls?" I've got a dandy exercise for you to try the next time you find yourself strutting around feeling smug. Go through your record collect- ion. All of it. I guarantee that within 15 minutes you'll be whimpering and scratching your head, mutter- ing to yourself along the lines of: "Cripes, you mean I was once dumb enough to buy this?" I know. I've just gone through my record collection. It's an ego- deflating experience. I've got records by Bobby Vinton. I've got records by Chubby Checker. I've even got (the same is too great) -- a Fabian record! And a moldy old 45 titled "The Purple People Eater."' If all of the above sound totally alien to you, that means you are either younger or older or infinite- ly more tasteful than I am. It also means you should count your blessings. Don't inquire. Take my word for it: all of the aforement- ioned records are thoroughly re- volting. . And yet, I bought 'em all. At some point in my chronically naive teenagerhood, I walked into a record store and plopped my hard-earned money down for a cardboard-jacketed copy of the Purple People Eater. And twenty-odd years later, I've still got the wretched record -- along with dozens of others that will never again know the prick of a phonograph needle. Of course, it could be worse. I could be Paul Mawhinney. Paul lives in Pissburgh, PA., and he has collected records for most of his life. He's 44 years old now and only collects 45's. How many does he have? It's hard to say precisely, but he says he counted them once. And quit counting when he got to one million, five hundred thousand. Let me write that out in figures: Paul Mawhinney has ... 1,500,000 records in his house -- give or take a disc. Where does he keep them? Oh, in the basement. And in the bedrooms. And in the den and the garage and even in special racks along the hallways. And just about anywhere else he can fit them. The experts estimate (and who's to call them wrong) that Paul Mawhinney is the undisput- ed owner of the world's largest private collection of American pop music. And as far as I'm concerned, he can have it. Me, I've always wondered what you can do with old records that you know you'll never listen to again. They are junk, indisputably ... but some- how you just can't bring yourself to put them out with the carrot tops and the bread wrappers and the milk cartons on Garbage Day. I can't anyway. Wouldn't it be nice if there was some way you could recycle old records? A Recycling Depot for old and worthless discs - why not? I think I'd feel a curious kind of pride to know that my copy of The Purple People Eater had been reincarnated into a table cloth ora cinema seat-cover. Of course, I suppose John Mawhinney's a little beyond that stage. Anyone with a million and a half records in his house is not likely to be keen on vinyl recyc- ling. Incidentally, what do you figure would be the all time favorite record of a guy who keeps a million and a half 45's in his house? Well, for Paul Mawhinney, it's an oldie. And a natural, when you think about it. 'Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". by The Platters, of course.