ALBANY – Lawmakers in Albany are considering new legislation that would require passengers on charter buses to wear seatbelts. The legislative proposal comes months after a deadly tragedy in Orange County that involved a charter bus carrying band members from a Long Island school to band camp in Pennsylvania.
On September 21, 2023, a charter bus carrying students from the Farmingdale School District tumbled 50 feet down an embankment off Interstate 84 in the Town of Wawayanda. The National Traffic Safety Board has opened an investigation into the cause of the crash that killed two adults and injured dozens of students.
In 2013, the installation of seatbelts on coach buses became a requirement, however, there is no law requiring passengers to wear them. The proposal being considered by Albany lawmakers would require passengers eight years and older to wear a seatbelt in a coach bus with refusal to do so resulting in a $50 fine.
