NJ Congressman, Senator Want Full Seat Belts On All School Buses

Federal lawmakers have announced legislation that would require all new school buses to have 3-point lap and shoulder seat belts and encourage innovative measures to ensure the seat belts are properly used.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5th) announced the bipartisan Secure Every Child Under the Right Equipment Standards Act (SECURES) of 2018.

The legislation, if approved, would direct the U.S. Department of Transportation to update the nationwide standard so large school buses in all 50 states have three-point seat belts. New Jersey only requires lap belts.

Several days after the bus crash in Mount Olive that killed a Paramus student and teacher, the National Transportation Safety Board released recommendations that all states require full three-point seat belts. Those new guidelines were issued as the result of two deadly bus crashes in November 2016.

"In this day and age, my credit card company alerts me within seconds if there’s a suspicious charge on my account. Ours cars have lane-changing alerts and even airbags on our seat belts," said Gottheimer, a Wyckoff native and father of two kids, 6 and 8. "Yet, in this age when we have an app for everything, when I look at the school buses transporting my kids, they look no different than the ones I rode when I was their age. That’s unacceptable."

Peter Caminiti III was on the bus when it crashed. He told the Paramus Board of Education last week that the seat belts did not fit students properly and were loose.

"Paramus, as good as it is, I think we need more safety precautions, like a three-point seat belt," Peter Caminiti III said at a Paramus Board of Education meeting last week.

His father, Peter Caminiti Jr. said bus drivers should also take a more active role in buckling up.

"Bus drivers should always check to make sure their passengers are buckled because a lot of students had faulty seat belts," the elder Caminiti said. "As soon as they would latch, they were loose."

Gottheimer's bill encourages the DOT to consider innovative approaches to install detection, reminder, and seat belt violation alert systems in school buses.

"In my own car, if the passenger hasn’t buckled up, it alerts me," Gottheimer said Tuesday in Fair Lawn, where he announced the legislation's creation. "Why can’t we have alerts on a bus when a child isn’t wearing a seatbelt?"

New Jersey lawmakers have also introduced a bill that would require all new school buses to have three-point lap and shoulder seat belts.

"After the tragic crash which senselessly took the lives of 2 innocent souls from my district and injured others, it is clear that our school bus safety standards must change," said state Democrat Lisa Swain. "We must not allow another tragedy like this to happen again."

There were 46 people on the bus, 38 students from East Brook Middle School on the bus, along with seven teachers and chaperones, and the driver, Hudy Muldrow Sr.

Two people, teacher Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy and 10-year-old student Miranda Faith Vargas died in the Mount Olive crash.

The NTSB is not investigating the Mount Olive crash, although they did gather information the day-of.

Hudy Muldrow Sr., 77, of Woodland Park, was driving the bus. He was charged Thursday with two counts of death by auto for recklessly causing Williamson-Kennedy's and Vargas' deaths, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp previously said.

Knapp said Muldrow missed the exit for Waterloo Village and attempted to make an illegal U-turn through an official-use-only cut-through just past Exit 25 when the bus was struck by a dump truck.

The impact knocked the bus into the center median, and tore it into multiple pieces. Several people were critically injured during the crash, authorities said.

"My kids could have been on that bus too – and I can’t imagine what those families are going through," Gottheimer said. "I think we'd all agree – there is nothing partisan about our children's safety."

Related:

• Bill To Require Full Seat Belts On School Buses Introduced In NJ
• Bus Driver In Fatal NJ Crash Ordered To Stay In Jail (Video)
• Paramus Officials Unaware Of Bus Driver's Record: Superintendent
• Why Was Elderly Man With 14 Suspensions Driving Doomed NJ Bus?
• Driver, 77, Revealed In Fatal NJ School Bus Crash
• Was School Bus Trying To Make Illegal U-Turn Before Rt. 80 Crash?
• Paramus Community Mourns Dedicated Teacher Killed In Crash
• Teacher, Student Confirmed Dead In Paramus Field Trip Bus Crash

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