Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 4, 1993 TAG: 9301040023
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ray Reed Staff
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WANT A SAFE RIDE? TRY A SCHOOL BUS
Q: Why don't school buses have seat belts? It seems like they're the vehicles that would need them most. C.D., RoanokeA: Precious cargo rides in those big yellow vehicles, but the youngsters are in less danger than anyone in a car. Part of that safety comes from the regard most drivers have for a school bus.
Perceptions are a funny thing, though. Our concern for the kids can be compared to many people's worries about flying.
Most of us get a little nervous in an airplane, yet airplanes produce far fewer deaths and injuries than cars, no matter which way it's figured.
Same with school buses. They're the safest form of transportation on the ground, say the feds who watch over highway safety. Yet it seems logical to many folks that buses should have seat belts.
School bus seats since 1977 have had a shock-absorbent plastic padding on the back, and are high and strong enough to keep occupants from flying over the seat in front.
These features are called compartmentalization, or keeping the passengers close enough to their seats to avoid injury. Apparently, they have yielded results.
Deaths and injuries in school-bus accidents are so low that the government can't decide whether adding seat belts would affect the rate of death or injury, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Robert A. Woolwine, Roanoke County's school transportation supervisor, is on a state committee that tested lap belts. There's no way to make sure the passengers fasten them, and older kids sometimes use them as weapons to strike others, those tests showed.
The statistics say this: Children are safer in a school bus than in a car.
\ Cable TV rate surge
Q: Is there any regulatory agency that prevents cable TV companies from raising rates at random? We're tired of paying high prices for cable services. R.L.H., Roanoke
A: Regulation is coming in April, and it's part of the reason cable rates are surging around the nation, Western Virginia included.
The Federal Communications Commission is writing rules to regulate cable TV rates. Congress approved this by overriding President Bush's veto of the Cable TV Act of 1992 in October.
Cable companies reacted in two ways. They filed lawsuits to block the act. And they raised rates, just in case the forthcoming rules make it harder to do that later on.
Regulation can be a two-edged sword. It was sought partly to keep companies that have virtual monopolies from raising rates unreasonably. But the short-term result has been an increase averaging about $2.50 per household.
Regulation also means added administrative costs, and sometimes the rules contain loopholes that let rates go up anyway when accountants, lawyers and lobbyists work on them.
Here's a thought: A dozen years from now, when most homes have received the new fiber-optic cable that offers 750 channels of communication, maybe there will be enough channels to allow businesses to compete with one another.
Competition is the most effective control on price and quality.
\ Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.