Life Saving Devices Not Being Worn

Students sprinting to the bus, after hearing the deafening buzz of the school bell in the hope of getting the desirable back seats. Once the students are all sat, the bus aunty comes through the aisle and suddenly, some students rush to put on their seatbelts while others need a reminder. But when there is no bus aunty spying on them, the seat belts become unbuckled and unclicked.

“There are many reasons why many people don’t wear seatbelts while riding,” says Rodney Mesriani, founder of the Mesriani Law Group which specializes in personal injury, employment and labor, social security and disability law. “First of all, drivers and passengers think that wearing a seatbelt is not that important, especially when driving in short distances or when the traffic is visibly light. Also, they tend to forget to wear them, especially when they are on the rush. Another reason why people don’t wear seatbelts is because wearing a seatbelt for them is very uncomfortable as it is too tight and wrinkles their clothes. But the reason why most teens don’t wear their seatbelt is because they say it’s not a “cool” thing to do.”

A recent survey of UWCSEA school bus, A31 shows that 9 out of 10 middle and high school students do not wear their seatbelts while on the bus. “I didn’t wear my seatbelt because I feel there is already the handrest protecting me from falling onto the floor and I’m not going to bang my head on the seat in front of me as I’m leaning back.” says Adhvay Krishnan, a 7th grade busrider. “Also, it makes my neck feel uncomfortable and I’ve heard that buses are designed so that seatbelts are unnecessary.” But when explained to him that even though buses were designed so that seatbelts aren’t needed, many students seriously injure themselves because of not wearing seatbelts. Responding to this, Adhvay says, “You know what another problem is? Half of these seatbelts don’t even work, see?” showing his broken seat belt.

Perhaps the people who are responsible for students not wearing seat belts may not necessarily be the students themselves but the transport department of UWCSEA allowing school buses with broken seat belts to transport students. For the immediate future, UWCSEA can start to check the school buses that are used currently for broken seat belts. Furthermore, students themselves should start to learn the dangers of not wearing their seat belt and make wearing their seat belts a habit. Sahil Parokkaran, a grade 8 students at UWCSEA Dover always wears his seatbelt when in a taxi and a bus says, “I always wear my seatbelt when using the taxi or the school bus as I’ve learnt the hard way. About a year ago, I was riding a cab when it crashed and I hit my head against the seat in front of me as I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt. I could have been seriously injured if the driver was going a little faster.”

If you don’t want to learn to wear your seatbelt the hard way, the next time you travel, make sure your seatbelt is clicked. Simple.

Written by Harit

Too Cool For Rules

“Put your seatbelt on, the bus auntie is coming!” This is a normal phrase you hear while sitting on T2, a UWCSEA school bus. Generally all the older kids sit at the back of the bus and often think that they are too cool to wear their seat belts or that they are mature enough to make their own decisions. This reporter decided to see how things would turn out for a boy who just made the transition from primary school to middle school and the even bigger transition, from the front of the bus to the back.

The boy was just sitting quietly in his seat, obviously wearing his seatbelt. When the bus aunty started to walk to the back of the bus he stared at the commotion caused as the older kids scrambled around and quickly managed to pull their seat belts across the chest.

As the bus aunty turned around and walked back to the front of the bus, the older kids sighed with relief, laughed at the one kid who got caught and then continue to, what they would call talk, but the rest of the bus would call yell to their friends. The younger boy was frozen, his eyes fixed on the scene and how the routine seemed so normal for the older kids.

As they made it further down the bus ride, the older kids noticed the newcomer. He had now managed to get over his shock and was peering out of the window watching the trees pass by one at a time. One of the older kids leaned over to the younger boys seat and stretched his arm out, barely managing to press down on the seat belt buckle.

With a start, the seatbelt whizzed up across the younger boys chest, back to the side of his seat. Startled, the younger boy looked back to the snickering faces of the older kids and immediately pulled the seat belt back and shoved it into the buckle. “Hey,” one of the older kids called out “Don’t you know, its not cool to wear your seatbelt,” continued the older guy. Nervously the boy reached down to his buckle and released his seatbelt. “Now you're one of us,” the older kids congratulated him.

The next day the newcomer was sitting in the exact same seat but this time without his seatbelt. He was also part of the commotion this day when the bus aunty came to check on them. Later in the bus ride one of his fellow front seaters were aghast to see that his seatbelt wasn’t pulled tightly across his body. “What is wrong with you?” she called out to him. “Don't you know its not cool to wear your seatbelt,” the boy replied.

This reporter was dumbfound after hearing many other stories where students forgot their true principles to fit it. Why should students be allowed to cave into the fear of peer pressure? Why should students learn that if you want to be cool, you can’t follow rules?

Written by Aditi