John Leyba, The Denver Post
Cherry Creek school bus drivers get their buses ready at the Cherry Creek Bus terminal March 13, 2014 in time for their route. Getting your player ready...
The Aspen School District removed all seat belts from its largest school buses during the past month and a half because of safety concerns, officials said.
“Lap belts can be more damaging to the human body in frontal accidents than none at all,” said Gary Vavra, the districtap transportation director. “For the safety of the children, … we decided it was safer to take them off than leave them on there.”
The district owns 22 large buses, which came equipped with lap belts, as opposed to three-point shoulder seat belts, he said. It would cost the district $15,000 per bus to retrofit them with the shoulder restraints, he said. The district has not budgeted the $330,000 needed to replace the seat belts.
The district also owns seven 14-passenger minibuses, which all are equipped with three-point shoulder restraints, Vavra said. The Colorado Department of Education requires smaller buses weighing less than 10,000 pounds to be equipped with lap seat belts or shoulder restraints, according to state law. Buses above that weight are not legally required to have seat belts.Read the full story on .
