I agree with the ABC's report that school bus should be safer and that seat belts should save lives. Also, I believe that school seat belts are not so costly so it seems pretty obvious (hopefully...).
But here are some thoughts that I had using my economist hat.
First, is it the best usage of our constrained resources? American schools have so many problems to fix and not enough resources. Are school bus seat belts, one of those priorities?
Second, there is the law of unintended consequences. As the transportation security board mentioned raising school bus cost due to seat belts may lead to more parents/ caregivers driving their kids to school which may result in higher accidents, congestion, and loss of time by the parent/caregiver.
Remember that 911 attacks had an unintended consequence of people driving more instead of flying, which lead to more car accidents and deaths.
I just mentioned these points not to have people with pitchforks and torches in front of my house but to think about the effects of policy.
For more information about effects of policies, I suggest listening to the following podcasts which are not only educational but fun.
Freakanomics
Econtalk
If you want a book then I suggest reading Freakanomics.
Please drive safely ^^
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