Federal Hearings into School Bus Safety Expected Soon

February 21, 2017

After a series of tragic school bus crashes the last few months that have shaken the student transportation industry, bipartisan support in Washington is growing to review school bus safety across the country.

To further protect children nationwide, Congressmen Elijah E. Cummings, D-Md., and Tennessee Reps. John J. Duncan, Jr., a Republican, and Steve Cohen, a Democrat, sent a letter to the chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure requesting a hearing on school bus safety.

The letter urged Congressmen Bill Shuster, R-Pa., and Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., to push the committee to “utilize its authority over the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to probe what more can be done to protect the nation’s schoolchildren, and whether any changes to federal law are warranted.”

This past year, there were a dozen fatalities in several high-profile school bus crashes. In November, six people were killed when a school bus collided head-on with a public transit bus in Baltimore. Three weeks later, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, six children were killed when their school bus overturned and smashed into a tree.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the Baltimore crash reported that the driver had a history of hypertension, diabetes and seizures, and “in the past five years, had been involved in at least 12 crashes or incidents while operating a school bus or personal vehicle.”

The NTSB revealed that Chattanooga driver was involved in at least one previous minor crash while operating a school bus. A final report is expected sometime next year.

The letter from the three congressmen further explained why overseeing school bus safety measures is crucial to improving school bus safety across the country, stating that the proposed hearing will “provide members an opportunity to examine this critical safety issue.”

Cummins, Duncan and Cohen added that they hope for the hearings to be part of the agenda at the start of the 115th Congress’ new legislative session.