WASHINGTON — A major announcement from the National Transportation Safety Board in the wake of several deadly school bus crashes. The NTSB recommending, for the first time, that all new school buses have both lap and shoulder seat belts.
In Chattanooga, a school bus wrapped around a tree.
In Baltimore, a school bus mangled in a crash that killed 6.
In neither case did the buses have seat belts.
“This will be a historic day. We have tiptoed around that for a long time and it’s time to take a hard stance on this,” says NTSB Chariman, Robert Sumwalt.
Only a handful of states currently require three point belts on the half million school buses on the roads.
New Jersey, site of last week’s side impact school bus crash, requires only lap belts.
While school buses do remain the safest way to transport students, the NTSB said they can be even safer.
Along with lap and shoulder belts, the NTSB recommends automatic braking and electronic stability control.
