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The Hancock County Board of Education, this week, said it will begin looking into whether it is feasible, or necessary, to have seat belts installed on the county's school buses.
This comes after receiving a letter expressing concern for the safety of students, and a recent series of collisions between local school buses and passenger vehicles.
Currently, seat belts are not required on school buses, although debate has taken place at various points over the years, with those favoring the move pointing to the safety factor.
In the past, those speaking against installing seat belts have cited difficulties during emergency situations, such as vehicle collisions or fires, to ensure every student is properly unharnessed and evacuated from the bus.
Recently, our area, Hancock County in particular, has had more than its share of collisions involving school buses. Fortunately, there have been no serious injuries as a result of these incidents, although the smaller vehicles involved often receive major damage.
While the seat belt debate, we're certain, will be going on for some time, with various studies and bits of testimony offered, there is one easy way we all can make sure the collisions are prevented.
Obey the traffic laws and pay attention while we're behind the wheel.
Some of the local incidents appear to have been the result of people not fully looking where they were going, or perhaps going faster than they should have been and not stopping in time. Whatever the reason, if we are all more mindful of our surroundings and stick to the rules of the road, these incidents shouldn't be taking place.