NASHVILLE – A state House panel today voted to send a bill requiring Tennessee school buses be equipped with safety belts by July 1, 2023, on to the full Transportation Committee after hearing dramatic testimony from two Children’s Hospital at Erlanger physicians on duty when a Woodmore Elementary School bus crashed last year, killing six children.
Dr. Alan Khort, a pediatrician and chief medical officer, and David Bhattacharya, a pediatric surgeon, testified that three-point safety belts could have benefited some of the survivors who suffered head injuries and broken bones.
Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, who is sponsoring the bill to require seat belts, said afterwards she was happy to see the bill move.
But Favors noted she will need to address a massive fiscal note that estimates it would cost the state and local school districts more than $400 million to buy new buses to meet the 2023 implementation date.
Favors said she is looking at trying to resolve the panel’s concerns by looking at a longer implementation timeline.