By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – Governor Riley wants to know if seat belts on school buses would make children safer. Riley asked a committee Wednesday to determine the answer to that question, hopefully before the start of the 2007 session of the Alabama Legislature on March six. The governor convened the committee of education, transportation and public safety officials following the November 20 accident when a bus carrying 40 Lee High School students hit a guardrail on a Huntsville interstate and plunged nearly 30 feet to the street below, killing four students. The accident has initiated a national debate on whether school systems should be required to equip buses with seat belts. The director of pupil transportation for the Alabama Board of Education, Joe Lightsey, said only Florida, California, New York and New Jersey currently require seat belts on all school buses. Riley spoke to the committee members during their initial meeting yesterday at the state Capitol.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)