COLUMBUS (WCMH) — A proposed bill would mean Ohio would join other states that have put seatbelts on school buses.
The bill was introduced by State Representative John Barnes, Jr., a Democrat, just days after a deadly crash in New Jersey that took the lives of two people and injured 43 others.
Eight states are already buckled up with laws that address safety restraints in school buses.
The Ohio House of Representatives Education and Career Readiness Committee will hear a bill Tuesday that could make Ohio the ninth state to join the initiative.
The bill will get its first hearing before lawmakers go on summer break until after the November General Election, but by no means is it a guarantee the bill will make it through the legislative process before the end of the General Assembly in December.
There is a chance it could be linked to another bill in the Lame Duck session after the election, and if not it could be re-introduced sometime in the next General Assembly.
After recent accidents involving school buses that resulted in injury and death, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) began recommending seatbelts be installed in all new school buses.
The recommendation is by no means a mandate leaving the ultimate decision up to individual states to decide.