50,000 school buses recalled nationwide

More than 50,000 buses are being recalled nationwide, the U.S. Department of Transportation raising concerns that seats may not have enough padding in the event of a crash.

“The seats may have been manufactured with styrene blocks that may not provide sufficient impact absorption in certain specific areas around the steel seat frame of the back support,” the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a release.

As such, the buses don’t comply with safety standards, particularly those regarding “school bus passenger seating and crash protection,” the NHTSA said.

The buses — the Thomas

Built SafTLiner EFX, Minotour, SafTLiner C2, and SafTLiner HDX school bus models — are equipped with SynTec S3B or S3C seats.

In all 53,528 buses made between 2014 and 2020 are being recalled. Neither the local Thomas Built dealer nor the head office in North Carolina have returned requests for comment.

It’s not immediately known how many of the buses in question are being used in Connecticut.

Norwalk’s school district bought 41 new school buses in 2016, specifically the 2017 Thomas Built SafTLiner C2 school bus.

“We’re thrilled to have the new buses on the road,” said Brenda Wilcox

Williams, spokeswoman for Norwalk Public Schools said then. “We have 8,000 students riding buses everyday. School buses and bus drivers are an important part of our entire school system.”

Dealers will install additional impact material in

the seats “to increase the amount of absorption, free of charge,” the NHTSA said.

The recall is scheduled to begin Dec. 2.

This week is National School Bus Safety Week, according to the National Association for Pupil Transportation. The theme of the week is “My school bus, the safest form of student transportation!”