...the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced its intention to do more testing aimed at developing standards for seat belts and safety glass in charter buses.
But the agency has stopped short of mandating the same for the large yellow school buses, making it optional. U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, are sponsoring a bill that would bypass safety testing on charter buses by immediately requiring such protections. Brown became involved in the bill after seven baseball players from Bluffton University in his state died when their charter bus fell off an overpass in Atlanta on their way to a tournament.
Lack of seat belts was cited by the National Transportation Safety Board as one of the causes of the injuries. "It's all about cost, and we're looking for the money to help pay for bus safety," Forman said. Forman noted the most protected person on a charter bus is the driver, who has a seat belt and a laminated windshield.
Haven't we been through this before?
