Rep. Steve Cohen representing the 9th District of Tennessee introduced legislation that would require federal funding to equip all newly purchased large school buses in the U.S. with lap-shoulder belts. Also, it would penalize states for not passing school bus illegal passing and driver background laws.
The Bring Enhanced Liability in Transportation for Students Act, or BELT, aims to create federal grants to enable states and local school districts to purchase new school buses weighing more than 10,000 pounds with lap-shoulder restraint systems as well as motion-activated detection systems. The bill does not list a dollar amount for the grants, but it does state that the U.S. Department of Transportation would be required to ensure the grants are “of sufficient size and scope.”
States would also be required to submit a report to the feds on the effectiveness of its school bus three-point seat belt program, including student usage and the impact on school bus seating capacity.
At this writing, HB 6461 had been referred to the House Education and Workforce Committee by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the latter of which Cohen is a member.
Cohen said in a statement on Tuesday that his bill became necessary after last month’s school bus crash in Chattanooga, Tennessee that killed six students and injured dozens more.
“When it comes to protecting our school children, safety must come first,” he said, citing the six states that require seat belts on school buses. “When I was in the Tennessee State Senate, I sponsored a bill to require seat belts on school buses, yet it was opposed by the industry and never received a vote in committee.”
Cohen cited federal statistics that show 134 school-transportation-related fatalities occur each year, but he failed to note that 92 percent of those deaths occur in vehicles other than the school bus or to nonoccupant pedestrians or bicyclists, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The BELT Act would also direct the U.S. Department of Transportation to withhold 10 percent of individual state federal-aid highway funds for each state that fails to enact a law that requires school districts and bus companies to conduct background checks on all new school bus driver applicants, which is already common industry practice. The legislation also would withhold 10 percent of federal highway aid if a state does not enact a law that specifies first and second civil or criminal penalties for motorists who illegally pass stopped school buses.
“Seat belts, background checks for drivers and other measures could help reduce future disasters,” Cohen concluded. “I urge my colleagues to support this common-sense legislation to protect our children [who are] riding on school buses.”
