The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is recommending seat belts on school buses for the first time ever. Previously the NHTSA had said that retrofitting buses with buses would be too expensive and that buses without belts were safe.

NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind has now come out and said, "The position of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is that seat belts save lives. That is true whether in a passenger car or in a big yellow bus. And saving lives is what we are about."

The National Association for Pupil Transportation countered by saying such decisions should be left to city and state, not federal officials.

The Minnesota State Patrol was asked about the issue last year.  Read the State Patrol's full response here.

 

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