CLINTON COUNTY -
A frightening school bus crash that sent more than a dozen students to the hospital, is raising new questions about safety on school buses and what more can be done to protect children.
When the Clinton Prairie school bus hydroplaned and rolled over on a rain-soaked road, students as young as five-years-old went tumbling.
"The little kids were all screaming and it was just crazy," said sophomore Stephanie Blubaugh.
"All of a sudden the bus started like tipping the bus driver yelled, 'Hold on!' I was like, 'what are you talking about?' And she said hold on and then it started rolling and tipping and everyone was, like, falling," said nine year old student Alysa Eitner.
Most of the injuries were minor.
The most seriously hurt were treated for broken bones at the hospital.
But the crash raises a decades-old debate about school bus safety, namely seat belts.
Westfield-based IMMI makes special seats with belts built-in.
The company is actually adding employees because of increased demand for school bus lap and shoulder belts across the country.
"It reduces injuries and fatalities by up to 45 percent, so it's the number one thing you can do to protect your life in any type of moving vehicle," said IMMI Vice President James Johnson.
IMMI says its crash tests have proven the belts make a difference.
Crash test video shows kids are kept in their seats.
"In that rollover event, kids are going to tumble like clothes in a dryer. And when they wear the lap and shoulder belt, they stay in the seating compartment," Johnson explained.
But school leaders worry seat belts, which are costly, also mean in this case, kids are stuck.
"The bus is on its side. Half of our kids would have been suspended in the air if they're strapped in," said Clinton Prairie Superintendent Chris Sampson. "Again, with ages of kids from kindergarten to sophomore in high school, would we be able to safely get them out of the belts and harnesses in that situation where a bus is on its side?"
In Friday's crash, students actually helped each other out of the bus and to safety.
They'd practiced at school for this very situation.
Even without being strapped in, there were no major injuries.
The biggest reason schools don't use seat belts is money.
It's not just the cost of the belts, but also the cost of buying more buses.
That's because instead of putting three kids to a seat, you can only fit two in seats outfitted with seat belts.
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