Hundreds of buses recalled for inadequate seat safety

Agencies tell school districts that vehicles can stay on road as repairs are phased in

School bus seats that may not protect students during a crash will remain in use in Palm Beach and Broward counties even though they are being recalled.

State and federal agencies have told school districts it’s acceptable to keep the buses on the road as the recall becomes official on Dec. 2 and repairs are phased in by the manufacturer.

“The impact material can be installed in the vehicle without taking the bus out of service,” wrote Robert Manspeaker, director of school transportation at Florida’s Department of Education.

About 200 of Palm Beach County’s 710 school buses are affected by the recall and will remain in service, spokeswoman Julie Houston Trieste said. In Broward, 26 of the the 1,345 buses in the fleet are affected, spokeswoman Nadine Drew said.

Under the back of the buses’ vinyl seats, there are styrene blocks, which resemble long pieces of styrofoam. These blocks may not provide enough cushioning if the bus collides with a car or other object, according to the manufacturer.

The recall affects 53,528 school buses that came through Daimler Trucks North America, the parent company of Thomas Built Buses, builder of the districts’ yellow school buses.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said there have been no reports of regarding the defect.

Still, the agency said, “the lack of impact absorption increases the risk of injury in the event of a crash.”

It’s been a while since South Florida school buses have undergone a large-scale recall.

Over the years, they have been called back for problems such as fuel leaks and steeringcolumn defects.

State law requires school buses to be inspected monthly to check on items such as tire pressure, brake fluids and oil changes. injuries