CALABASAS : School Bus Seats Still Without Restraint

Nearly a year after a group of parents won support for it, a controversial type of safety device has not been installed on Las Virgenes Unified School District buses as promised, because of the manufacturer’s financial problems.

“It looks like it isn’t going to happen unless someone else comes in and takes this project over,” said Asst. Supt. Donald Zimring. “It was a whole lot of effort for naught.”

After an intense lobbying effort by a group of parents last summer, the Las Virgenes school board agreed to allow Micho Industries to install a pull-down safety restraint--called the R-Bar--on the seats of one or two buses for a trial period.

The restraints originally were scheduled to be installed, at no cost to the district, by January.

Michael Dunn, vice president of marketing at the Lompoc-based company, conceded that the project “has lost a lot of momentum” due to “financial difficulties.”

But he said the company is “still committed to the success of the project, because we know what it means to the safety of the kids.”

Parents felt their children would be safer if buses were equipped with such devices, despite a lack of evidence supporting claims that the restraints increase safety.

Patty Beth, who helped organize support for the R-Bars, said she was “very disappointed” about the company’s failure to install its product.

“I don’t allow my children to go on the field trips unless I drive them myself,” Beth said. “If the buses had the restraints, I would feel safer about letting them go.”