Analysis on NAPT‘s new three-point, lap-shoulder seatbelt recommendation, the New York City Department of Education’s large technology RFP, and hands-on school bus emergency training in Texas.
Participate in more discussions about safety and technology at STN EXPO Charlotte and STN EXPO Reno, which both include the Bus Technology Summit and the Green Bus Summit.
“We’re not looking for a buyer, we’re looking for a partner.” Jason Yan, vice president of sales at RIDE Mobility, discusses how battery safety and development enhances electric school bus operation and range.
Is the sixth time a charm for the School Bus Safety Act?
Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee and Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois hope so, but the bill faces the added hurdle of passing both chambers that are controlled by Republicans. The two announced Wednesday the latest iteration: The School Bus Safety Act of 2025.
No bill numbers were available at this report.
The legislation, which most recently was introduced last fall but died, seeks the required installation of three-point seatbelts in all school buses, plus stability control and automatic braking systems, both of which are already being standard equipment on most large school buses.
The bill would also require event data recorders that capture pre- and post-crash data, driver inputs and restraint usage when a collision does occur. The act calls for a fire suppression system, which addresses engine fires and a firewall that prohibits hazardous quantities of gas or flame to pass from the engine compartment to the passenger compartment.
In a statement, Cohen called the safety measures recommended by National Transportation Safety Board “common sense.”
“We’ve seen too many deaths and serious injuries in school bus accidents in Tennessee and elsewhere, and it is past time we act to protect young lives,” he said.
A grant program would provide funding to help school districts meet the mandate.
Oklahoma House Bill 1244 would require school buses to be equipped with seatbelts or harnesses. If passed, it would make Oklahoma the 10th state to require safety restraint systems.
HB1244, introduced by Rep. Judd Strom, would require all new vehicles that transport 10 passengers or more and are purchased or contracted for use by school districts to be equipped with seatbelts or harnesses for every passenger. The bill does not differentiate between three-point lap/shoulder or two-point lap belts.
The bill states that every related vehicle would need the words “SCHOOL BUS” painted on the front and rear of the vehicle. HB1244 would apply to vehicles purchased or contracted for use by the effective date of July 1, 2025, ensuring the vehicles would be certified by the start of next school year.
Currently, nine other states require school bus seatbelts: Arkansas, California, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. Louisiana has been unable to fully implement the law to install lap belts due to insufficient funding. Arkansas, while requiring lap/shoulder seatbelts, first requires local voters to approve property tax increases to pay for them.
Meanwhile, Florida’s law requires two-point belts and New York allows school boards to decide if they want to provide lap or lap/shoulder seatbelts and does not mandate students to use them.
“The addition of seatbelts for students riding to school or school events on our school buses would put parents’ minds at ease and provide an important layer of security for Oklahoma students,” Strom said. “By implementing this proposed requirement, we would not only be in the small number of states that are on the forefront of aligning Oklahoma with school bus seatbelt requirements but also give parents greater peace of mind knowing their children are as safe as possible during their daily commute.”
The bill will be eligible for consideration in the upcoming legislative session, beginning on Feb. 3.
A mother in Arizona was charged with aggravated assault after hitting her daughter’s school bus driver. A video of the incident shows the mother yelling and assaulting the driver. Other parents who were at the bus stop stated that the women complained the bus driver had not stopped in the right location. The woman faced a single count of felony aggravated assault on a school employee.
The driver of a concrete truck that caused a fatal school bus crash in Texas admitted to taking cocaine on three hours of sleep before the incident. The incident resulted in the death of pre-kindergarten student Ulises Rodriguez Montoya. Dash cam footage from the school district showed the incident was caused by the concrete truck veering across the center line and colliding with the bus.
An 11-year-old from Maine was facing charges of terrorizing after authorities were forced to evacuate a school bus due to a threat with a suspicious device. Students had reported witnessing another student showing and talking about a suspicious device and immediately the Maine state police and bomb squad were called. Authorities later confirmed that the suspicious device found in the sixth grader’s home was not an explosive.
Blue Bird is the first school bus builder to install three-point seat belts and a bus driver airbag as standard equipment, starting in the fall of 2024. (Photo courtesy of Blue Bird.)
School bus manufacturer Blue Bird made history as the first OEM to announce lap/shoulder seatbelts as standard safety technology in all its vehicles. Blue Bird, in partnership with IMMI, will begin equipping new school buses with three-point seatbelts for all student passengers.
The company also announced the implementation of other safety improvements such as high-intensity LED lighting on the outside and inside of the bus, high-resolution front and rear cameras, lighted stop-arms and school bus signs, and strobe lights. More standard equipment Blue Bird is touting as the industry’s first technology is the introduction of 4Front, a steering wheel deployed airbag to protect the head and torso of school bus drivers during a crash.
A Minnesota school bus driver was arrested after he was accused of driving his bus while intoxicated with students on board. The 44-year-old man allegedly blew double the legal limit when tested. He was arrested by authorities for suspicion of second-degree DWI. The incident was under investigation.
A school bus crash with a semi-trailer in Illinois resulted in five fatalities, three of which were children. The semi-truck driver and the school bus driver were also killed in the crash. Amid the crash, both vehicles were engulfed in flames.
Two Dutchtown Elementary School students were left inside their school bus for hours after they fell asleep. One of the children’s aunt demanded the district recheck the bus after her niece was nowhere to be found after the child was supposed to be dropped off. A driver later showed up with two children who had been left behind on the school bus.
An update on the New York State stop-arm camera law closes a loophole that previously let motorists off the hook despite being caught on a camera passing a stopped school bus. Now, the law originally passed in 2019 allowing stop-arm cameras on school buses reportedly includes a “rebuttable presumption” that the vehicle being passed is a school bus and meets all requirements of being such a vehicle. The school bus must have a valid inspection certification, which is required for every New York state school bus, to meet all requirements.
A 9-year-old boy in Florida was seriously injured after being struck by an SUV while waiting for his school bus. Several children had boarded the bus at the time of the incident. The boy was airlifted to a local hospital and then referred to a children’s hospital with several road rash scrapes across his body.
A three-way crash in Ohio resulted in a 12-year-old student being struck after exiting his school bus. The child was reportedly thrown through the air, landed in a yard and was flown to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in an unknown condition. Police said neither alcohol nor drugs appeared to play a role in the crash.
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