TOLEDO, Ohio — A video showing an Ohio school bus going airborne while kids scream is quite disturbing. The bus overturns after being hit by a car, and those frightening moments caught on camera are once again highlighting bus safety concerns, while reigniting the seat belt debate.
Those are images no parent ever wants to see; buses transporting precious cargo mangled and ripped apart in a crash.
It’s a real danger for the nearly 25 million kids being transported across the country to and from school every day.
Between 2008 and 2017, 264 school-aged children died in school transportation-related crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The chilling video that captured the horrifying moment was recorded a few weeks ago in Perry County, near Columbus.
In the horrifying moment, a school bus packed with students flips onto its side. The footage shows students flying out of their seats, hitting the ceiling and some, even slamming into windows, before climbing out of the wreckage.
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Police say the driver who hit the bus, causing it to overturn, ran a red light and was under the influence of several drugs.
The bus was totaled, though mercifully there were no fatalities.
Eight of the 25 students on board and the bus driver were taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
That driver was the only person on the bus who was wearing a seat belt.
While the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says school buses are the most regulated vehicles on the road, most states don’t require seat belts in large school buses. In fact, they are only mandatory in eight states and Ohio is not one of them.
"In 2014, there was some legislation that was potentially going to be enacted in the state that would require seat belts and for whatever reason, it was not enacted," Ohio Department of Education Director of Field Relation Dr. Scott Hunt said.
With no state or federal laws on the books requiring seat belts on buses weighing over 10,000 pounds, local school districts are left to their own discretion on bus safety.
Outfitting school buses with seat belts ranges from $7,000 to $11,000 per bus - money most cash–strapped districts can’t come up with.
"I think they definitely need seat belts," school parent Amanda Orth said. "Because of the among of accidents that have happened over the years, with no seat belts, these little kids are just flying all over the place. "
National Transportation Safety Board shows the potential risks for riding without them.
Two groups of test dummies, one is buckled up and the other is not. Depending on who you ask, the outcome is different.
While the ages-old seat belt debate reignites, the discussion moves forward to the safety measure not applying only for school buses.
"I miss being able to use my left hand for daily things, I miss being able to walk and jog," Bluffton bus crash survivor Tim Berta said.
Berta was forever changed by a deadly bus crash.
"I used to be a college athlete, I used to be good at athletics. Now, I'm not," Berta said.
Thirteen years ago, Berta and his baseball teammates from Bluffton University were heading to Florida when their charter bus plunged off a highway in Atlanta, killing seven and injuring 21 others.
None of the 59 seats on board the bus had shoulder harnesses to stop the players from being thrown off the bus.
"I know had there been seat belts available, lives would have been saved," Berta said.
The tragedy sparked bipartisan action in Washington where Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown’s Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act was signed into law.
That was eight years ago. However, Brown claims it has not been fully implemented and enforced by the government, putting lives at risk.
"The department of transportation continues to say they are taking steps, but the steps should already be made by now. The issue is always money, it cost a little more - for a bus to be made safe," Brown said.
Brown’s bill requires safety belts and stronger seating systems, anti-ejection windows and crush-resistant roofs that can withstand rollovers on charter buses. A requirement, the senator says, should also apply to school buses.
"I don’t know how you can’t say it should not apply to school buses with children. When it applies to other buses, our bill did not (WORD MISSING) because we knew we couldn't get it passed because of the opposition over cost. But over time, school buses, sooner rather than later, need to be made safer," Brown said.
A federal bill introduced last July in Washington would require seat belts, data records and automatic braking systems to keep students safe. The bill is still in the first stage of the legislative process.
Here in Ohio, proposed bills on seat belts have failed to garner enough support to become law.
When WTOL 11 asked Gov. Mike DeWine about it, he said it's important that every bus carrying people in the state of Ohio have seat belts.