Hypocritical Buses Promote Seatbelts as Passengers Flounce Unrestrained

BURLINGTON – In a bizarrely passive aggressive move by Green Mountain Transit, many Chittenden County buses are now displaying messages that read “Seatbelts Save Lives,” despite having no seatbelts themselves. Bus passengers are free to stand, walk, lie down, prance, crouch, kneel, and macarena without being asked to fear for their lives, while occupants of other vehicles receive the hypocritical safety warning.

“I figure it’s more for cars,” says frequent GMT rider Matt Peddy. “Like, I don’t know if you’ve seen some of these buses cut corners and blast through yellow lights, but I would not want to be in a car near a city bus without my seatbelt on. It’s not so much a general safety warning as a very specific immediate warning I would think. Like, ‘Hey! Put your seatbelt on if you want to live! I’m coming for you!’ That sort of thing.”

GMT bus driver Daniel Isham, of Derby, VT says that the message is not instructive, but informative. “We’re not telling people to wear seatbelts. We’re just saying they save lives. Like I might tell you it’s raining, but it’s up to you if you want to get an umbrella or not. So it’s not hypocritical at all. Just putting the info out into the world. I’m definitely not advocating for safety. Honestly, I could go either way on it.”

GMT had no official comment on the messages, although unofficially the man who answered the phone told our reporter that he didn’t know why people were upset now, since they weren’t upset last year when the buses displayed scrolling text that read “Gotta Catch ‘Em All,” and “There’s a Snorlax on This Block.”