Metro Council Resolution Pushes for Seat Belts on Nashville School Buses

NASHVILLE, TN — Following the school bus tragedy in Chattanooga, which came just days after a Chester County school bus crash in Nashville injured several students, the Metro Council may begin a push for seat belts on the city's school buses.

The council was set to vote Tuesday night on a resolution that calls for school buses purchased in the future by the school board to be equipped with seat belts, but as the meeting neared its fourth hour, decided to defer a vote on the resolution until its next meeting.

Members of the Tennessee General Assembly are considering legislation that would require the retrofitting of the state's school buses with seat belts. Fewer than one in five of Tennessee's 9,000 school buses are seat-belt equipped. The council resolution requests that school buses nearing mandatory retirement age — school buses can be operated for 17 years before mandatory replacement — along with buses taken out of service for any other reason, be replaced by those with seat belts.

Image via Chattanooga Fire Department