State Mulls Requiring Seat Belts on School Buses

HARTFORD, CT - Connecticut legislators are considering a new mandate that would require all districts outfit their school buses with three-point seat belts beginning in 2021.

Estimates place the cost at about $10,000 per school bus to add seat belts to all seats, so giving districts five years to implement the initiative would give them time to budget for it, according to legislators.

"It all comes down to the safety of our children and I think if we can enable that cost in there, especially, if we put it down the road for four or five years from now, I think it’s feasible," state Rep. Tony Guerrera (D - Rocky Hill) told NBC Connecticut News. Guerrera is chairman of the legislature's Transportation Committee.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends seat belts on all school buses, as discussed in a 2015 presentation by NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind, Ph.D.

"As NHTSA’s administrator, my primary role is as the leader of our agency. NHTSA has not always spoken with a clear voice on the issue of seat belts on school buses," said Rosekind in the November speech. "So let me clear up any ambiguity now: The position of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is that seat belts save lives. That is true whether in a passenger car or in a big yellow bus. And saving lives is what we are about. So NHTSA’s policy is that every child on every school bus should have a three-point seat belt."

Leslie Shelton of the Connecticut School Transportation Association told NBC Connecticut that school buses are currently very safe, but realizes that sentiments are moving toward adding seat belts even though it could be a financial burden for districts.

"That’s just the way the world is going but I want to remind everybody that the school bus is safe right now. It’s built with compartmentalization in the seats. The school bus is a safe vehicle for your child to be in,” said Shelton.

Click here to read the full story on the NBC Connecticut News website.