[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 99 (Friday, June 16, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      SCHOOL BUS SAFETY ACT OF 1995

                                 ______


                      HON. JAMES A. TRAFICANT, JR.

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 16, 1995

  Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, every schoolday in our country 
approximately 418,000 schoolbuses carry 24 million schoolchildren to 
and from school and school-sponsored activities covering 4.5 billion 
miles. Schoolbus safety is an issue that certainly deserves the 
attention of the American people and the Congress. Between 1988 and 
1993 approximately 400 people were killed, and 67,900 people were 
injured, as a result of schoolbus accidents. In my State of Ohio, there 
were 475 people--426 of them students--injured in schoolbus accidents 
in the 1992-93 school year.
  Without question the schoolbus is the safest mode of transportation 
on America's roads today. My goal is to improve on existing 
technologies to maximize safety. Today, Mr. Speaker, I am introducing a 
bill to do just that. The School Bus Safety Act does a number of things 
that will ensure the safe travel of our most valuable resources: our 
children.
  My bill directs the U.S. Department of Transportation to set national 
proficiency standards for schoolbus drivers. It also directs the 
Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to 
develop guidelines on the safe transportation in schoolbuses of 
children under the age of 5. Currently, today's buses are designed to 
transport and provide maximum safety for children above the age of 6. 
It would apply the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations [FMCSR] to 
interstate schoolbus operations. Presently, schoolbuses owned and 
operated by school districts, regardless of the type of operation 
involved, are not covered by FMCSR because the school districts are 
exempt governmental entities. My bill mandates a national criminal 
history background check system to enable local education agencies, or 
contractors, to check the criminal background of any person they are 
considering for employment as bus drivers. In addition, the bill calls 
for the establishment of construction, design, and securement standards 
for wheelchairs used in schoolbuses. Finally, my bill directs the DOT 
study the usage of seat belts on schoolbuses, the extent to which 
public transit vehicles are engaged in schoolbus operations, and the 
contracting out of schoolbus operations.
  Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives 
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I have long championed 
Federal measures to promote transportation safety. My bill jets forth a 
reasonable plan for improving schoolbus safety and safeguarding the 
lives of schoolchildren. I urge all my colleagues to support this 
legislation.

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