This morning, a report from Today Show national investigative correspondent Jeff Rossen offered the strongest support yet from NHTSA president Mark Rosekind for seat belts on school buses. “Would safety belts make them safer?” Rosekind asked. “Absolutely.”

Rosekind also promised NHTSA was working on new safety requirements to keep our kids safe in and around the school bus. “This fall, we’re going to come out with some action, and that could be inclusive of seat belts, very likely at the top of the list.”

Here at SafeGuard4Kids, we know that school buses are one of the safest modes of transportation for our children, but the evidence supports that seat belts would make them even safer. We are excited to hear Mr. Rosekind, as well as Today hosts Matt Lauer, Samantha Guthrie, Al Roker, and Natalie Morales, agrees. Janette Fennell, president of Kids and Cars summed up our position best in this report. “I feel strongly that we should have seat belts on every school bus in the United States,” she told Rossen.

You can watch the report below and see the crash test they performed live. Keep in mind, all the test dummies were seated correctly, facing forward, with their feet on the floor. Out of position students would have faired much worse. While compartmentalization works as intended in this demonstration, what parent would think their child is best protected by being slammed into the seat back in front of them? That kind of “protection” often results in chipped teeth, bloody noses, broken bones, and concussions.