One of the standard pieces of safety equipment on every single car is a seatbelt. There are laws requiring people to wear seatbelts, on account of how many lives they save and how they reduce catastrophic injuries.
But when you get on public transportation, you may notice that buses do not have seat belts. There could be dozens of people on the bus, but none of them have to wear a belt – other than the driver. Why is this?
Two potential reasons for the lack of seat belts
One of the first reasons that people often give for the lack of seat belts is that it would be incredibly expensive to install them on buses that were built without them. It would cost thousands of dollars per bus, and cities are just not willing to pay that type of money.
At the same time, many people claim that seat belts wouldn’t actually make people safer. They cite things like the size of the bus, which means that any vehicle it hits is likely to be more severely damaged than the bus itself. They also point out that buses tend to drive relatively slowly, claiming that any accident is unlikely to be all that serious.
However, you may worry that your safety is not a priority and that you are clearly at risk for serious injuries on the bus in a way that you wouldn’t be if that bus did have seat belts. If you do suffer major injuries in an accident caused by a negligent bus driver or another driver on the road, you need to know how to seek financial compensation for your medical costs and other bills.