Districts make sure drivers buckle up

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - I-Team 8’s investigation into seat belt use among bus drivers showed a disturbing trend: a growing number of drivers who aren’t buckled up behind the wheel.

But, we also found some local schools districts that are taking a unique step to make sure drivers are buckled up.

It’s a simple change in color that’s making all the difference.

The push began after a Carmel-Clay school bus driver who wasn’t wearing his seat belt was bounced out of his seat. Surveillance video from that Carmel crash last May showed the driver’s seat belt hanging, unbuckled by his side, as his bus became a 30,000 pound battering ram, slamming through a fence and into a home.

The driver had been bounced out of his “air cushion” seat after hitting a bump. Fortunately, there were no children on board, and the driver wasn’t seriously hurt.

Four months later, I-Team 8 found seat belt usage among bus drivers is still a problem. We spot checked 124 drivers in four school districts across Central Indiana. 13 weren't properly buckled--about 10 percent.

For school bus driver Harold Wallen, failing to buckle up is an unacceptable risk.

“It's the first thing I do is to buckle up. Because, I know I need to be able to stay in my seat,” Wallen told I-Team 8’s Troy Kehoe.

Wallen should know.

He worked at IMMI, a vehicle safety testing facility based in Westfield, for more than 25 years, rising to become it’s CEO in 1991. Now, he uses products he once helped test as a semi-retired school bus driver in Brownsburg.

“It's like sitting on top of a spring,” Wallen said, sitting on his air-cushion ride bus seat. “A lot of bounce, plus they tend to move a little bit side to side. If you go around a curve in one of these buses and it happens to tilt a little bit, you can feel like you're going to fall out of your seat.”

It’s the number one reason Wallen says he fastens his seat belt every time he gets behind the wheel.

But, if he didn’t, he couldn’t hide it.

His shoulder and lap belts are both bright orange.

“If you have a crash, the first thing this thing does is lock. And, it's going to hold you right here. If you had a lap belt, then you'd go all the way into the steering wheel. And, with the orange, it's a message to the community, to the police, that our drivers are wearing their belts. Plus, the police can clearly see it,” Wallen said.

And, you'll see them too.

In Brownsburg, 80 percent of the district's fleet is now equipped with the new bright orange belts. The goal is to retrofit the rest of the buses by the end of the year.

Brownsburg's orange belts were donated by IMMI as a way to test whether new belts would increase usage among drivers. Other local districts, including Carmel-Clay, Monroe County Schools and Bartholomew County Schools have also begun installing them.

It's a growing trend.

According to IMMI, all seven U.S. based school bus manufacturers now offer the neon belts as an option. One now installs them on every bus it makes.

“It’s really just to monitor usage,” said IMMI Vice President of Marketing Mike Leakey. “Up inside the vehicle, it can really get dark and hard to see. And, with the black webbing, it's difficult to see against a person's body. So, the orange high visibility webbing makes it much easier to keep an eye on them.”

It’s a critical thing on such high visibility vehicles, Leakey said.

“Traditionally, there's about 10 percent to 20 percent of people--whether it's passenger cars, heavy vehicles, commercial vehicles like school buses--that just don't wear their belts. With [school bus drivers], they're an example for the students and reinforcing seat belt usage, which we think is important for everyone,” Leakey said.

Of the 25 school bus drivers we checked in Brownsburg on Wednesday, every single one was clearly buckled up with a shoulder belt. Most displayed the new bright orange belts.

It's one reason why IMMI says colored seat belts are the future.

“As the school bus fleet is replaced over time, I think you'll see more of them using not only the orange seat belt webbing, but you'll also see the 3-point belts being more prevalent,” Leakey said.

“For those drivers that would find it offensive, they probably don't want to wear their seat belts anyway,” Wallen said. “If you're doing what you're supposed to, you don't care who knows it.”

FOLLOWING UP

I-Team 8 will continue to investigate this issue, and we’re asking for your help. Look to see if your child's bus driver is buckled up — at the bus stop, at school and on the roads — and send us your pictures or video using the Report It! feature on the WISH-TV smartphone app, on our website , or by emailing reportit@wishtv.com.