Hamilton County lawmakers' mandatory school bus seat belt bill advances in Senate


              FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2015 file photo, public school buses are parked in Springfield, Ill. The lazy days of summer are ending for millions of children as they grab their backpacks, pencils and notebooks and return to the classroom for a new school year. No more staying up late during the week. Farewell to sleeping in. And, hello homework!  (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2015 file photo, public school buses are parked in Springfield, Ill. The lazy days of summer are ending for millions of children as they grab their backpacks, pencils and notebooks and return to the classroom for a new school year. No more staying up late during the week. Farewell to sleeping in. And, hello homework! (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)

NASHVILLE - A proposed mandatory school bus seat belt measure, spurred by a 2016 Chattanooga bus crash that killed six children, moved through the Tennessee Senate Education Committee on Wednesday despite skepticism from some lawmakers.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, requires all new school buses purchased beginning July 1, 2019, to come equipped with federally approved safety harnesses.

It now goes to the Finance Committee. The House companion bill, sponsored by Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, was approved by the lower chamber's Transportation Committee earlier this week on a close vote and will be in an education committee next week.

Favors testified on the bill in the Senate panel's Wednesday meeting.

"I am beseeching you as members of the committee to consider this from the perspective of saving lives lives in the future," said Favors, a retired nurse whose district includes the Brainerd section of town where the Woodmore Elementary School bus crashed Nov. 21.

The driver of the Chattanooga school bus, Johnthony Walker, 24, has been indicted by a Hamilton County grand jury on six counts of vehicular homicide, four counts of reckless aggravated assault and one count each of reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

Sens. Ferrell Haile, R-Gallatin, and Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, voiced skepticism about the efficacy of requiring seat belts, a move made by some states.

"Certainly, we want to do all we can to protect children," Haile said, but he added bus drivers have been the cause of at least three tragedies in the past several years.

Haile is carrying Gov. Bill Haslam's legislative effort to address bus problems. It raises ages of bus drivers from 21 to 25 and requires school districts to have defined transportation plans and better monitoring of drivers.

He also raised questions posed by other critics, including who will ensure children are belted in, who will be legally liable if they don't and there's a mishap, and what happens in the event of a fire in terms of getting young children out of the safety devices.

Tennessee Highway Patrol Col. Tracy Trott told the committee that "as a safety organization we're supportive of seat belts at any time in any vehicles."

But, Trott said, "my question on this type of bill is how do you enforce it? I don't think any of us envision walking onto a school bus and writing a 6-year-old a ticket."

He and Lt. Ray Robinson, who oversees the Department of Safety's Pupil Transportation Division, noted school buses are compartmentalized to protect passengers. Robinson said there have been three school bus fires he knows of that prompted quick actions by drivers to evacuate students.

Still, Trott noted, in the Chattanooga tragedy, the bus rolled over.

"Would safety belts have made a difference? It probably would have lessened the severity of injuries and possibly have saved some lives," Trott acknowledged.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, noted that while he has long opposed bills requiring safety belts on school buses, the latest tragedy has changed his mind.

"It's about time we do this as a state," said Kelsey as he and six other panel members, including Gardenhire, voted for the measure.

The Haslam administration, meanwhile, sent a letter to Favors telling her it opposes the bill based on cost. That was before she made major changes to bring the costs down.

Earlier this week, Favors removed the requirement that all buses must have the safety belts by July 1, 2023. Instead, the bill relies on new belt-equipped buses eventually replacing buses without belts.

The move to drop the mandatory 2023 requirement slashed projected costs of the bill dramatically. It now would boost state expenditures by $2.15 million a year going forward, with the money going to local schools. Local schools' cost would be $12.91 million annually going forward.

Tennessee school districts typically replace about 600 of their 9,000 buses annually.

Originally, the bill would have cost the state nearly $12 million a year for five years and school systems about $70 million a year over a six-year period.

Chattanooga police say Woodmore Elementary School bus driver Walker was speeding when the bus, which carried 37 students, left a curvy section of Talley Road, struck a utility pole, overturned and slammed into a tree.

Walker worked for Durham School Services, a private bus contractor.

Contact staff writer Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com or 615-255-0550. Follow on Twitter @AndySher1.

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