Nothing prohibits a State or local jurisdiction from purchasing buses equipped with safety belts.
Compartmentalization is a design concept that relies on closely-spaced, padded seating.
Although compartmentalization provides some protection, the design concept ignores the effects of rear-end, lateral and rollover collisions. During a crash, children can hit their heads against the bus ceiling, its floor, and even the heads of other students. Compartmentalization does not retain a child within the compartment during side impacts or rollovers. The design concept does not protect a child from ejection through either bus windows or emergency doors. Very few accidents involve school buses.