NYS lawmakers OK measure requiring seat belt use on charter buses

ALBANY — The State Legislature on Thursday gave final legislative approval to a bill requiring that most passengers use seat belts on charter buses, a measure prompted by last year’s deadly tour bus crash involving the Farmingdale High School marching band.

The bill, which would apply to passengers 8 years old and older, now goes to Gov. Kathy Hochul for her signature to make the measure law or for her veto.

“Seat belts save lives,” said the bill’s co-sponsor, Assemb. William Magnarelli (D-Syracuse). “All we’re saying is you have to buckle up if you are 8 years old or older.”

The bill passed 145-0 in the Assembly on Tuesday and 53-7 in the State Senate Thursday evening.

Two educators were killed and dozens of people were injured in the Sept. 21 crash. The Farmingdale High School students were on their way to a marching band camp in Pennsylvania when their charter bus plunged down a 50-foot ravine along Interstate 84 in Orange County. The bus was carrying 40 students and four adults.

The bill would close what advocates have long called a flaw in the law: Although a 2013 federal law requires seat belts in charter buses manufactured since 2016, nothing requires they be used.

Under the measure, charter bus passengers 8 years old and older will be required to use safety belts. The parents or guardians of passengers 8 to 15 years old who didn’t use the safety belts could be ticketed with a violation if they also are on the bus.

The fine would be $50 for those parents or guardians and $50 to any passengers 16 years old and older ticketed for not using the seat belts.

“The bill requires passengers to put the seat belts on,” Magnarelli said. “It is not on the bus company and it is not the drivers’ responsibility.”

Magnarelli said major bus companies, including Coach USA, support the measure.

“I can completely empathize and understand why the sponsor would want to respond to a tragedy like this,” said Assemb. Mary Beth Walsh (R-Ballston) in lending Republican support to the bill.

Previous National Transportation Safety Board studies have reported 17 to 21 deaths per year nationwide in charter bus crashes, with spikes as high as 28 deaths per year. The agency found the most common cause of deaths was rollovers, and using seat belts reduces the likelihood of a death by 77%.

The state bill would apply to charter buses made or assembled since 2016, which includes a large segment of such buses now on the road. That year aligns with the federal law requiring all large buses for hire built after November 2016 to have lap and shoulder seat belts.

By Michael Gormley

michael.gormley@newsday.com@GormleyAlbany

Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.