Fatal School Bus Crash Revives Seat Belt Debate

A weekend school bus crash that killed a 16-year-old student and injured more than a dozen others has prompted one lawmaker to propose legislation that would require new school buses to have seat belts and, possibly, to retrofit their fleets of older buses. The General Assembly will consider the bill after the 2010 session convenes Feb. 3. The legislature's transportation committee "has debated the seat belt issue several times since 1989, most recently in March 2006. But its members have never endorsed the idea for the full General Assembly's vote, unsure about the cost ramifications and the conflicting testimony they heard about whether seat belts on buses could do more harm than good." Read more.