Bill Details
S.828 - 119th Congress
Status
Latest action
2025-03-04 - Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Introduced Date
2025-03-04
Policy Area
Transportation and Public Works
Committees
View committees (1)
Sponsors
7
0
0
AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This bill would require the federal government to set new safety rules for school buses. It would push for stronger protection for children by adding seat belts, fire safety features, crash avoidance technology, and better driver training. It would also call for studies on extra safety tools and create a grant program to help states and school districts pay for safer buses and upgrades.
- School buses over 10,000 pounds would have to have a 3-point seat belt at every seat.
- School buses would need stronger fire safety measures, including fire suppression systems, safer firewall protection between the engine and passenger area, and tougher standards for how materials inside the bus burn and produce smoke.
- School buses would also have to be equipped with automatic emergency braking, an event data recorder, and electronic stability control. The bill also calls for at least 8 hours of behind-the-wheel training for school bus drivers on public roads with a qualified instructor.
- The bill directs studies on motion-detection systems that could warn drivers about people near the bus, and on seat belt alert systems that would tell the driver if a passenger is not buckled. It also creates a grant program to help states and school districts buy or retrofit buses with these safety features.
Official Summaries
School Bus Safety Act of 2025
This bill directs the Department of Transportation (DOT) to issue rules requiring school buses to have certain safety features. DOT must also establish a grant program to assist in the implementation of the requirements.
Specifically, DOT must issue rules requiring school buses to include
- three-point safety belts for all seats,
- a fire suppression system which addresses engine fires,
- a firewall between the engine and passenger compartment that prevents hazardous quantities of gas or flames from passing through the firewall,
- increased performance standards for interior flammability and smoke emissions,
- an automatic emergency braking system,
- an event data recorder, and
- an electronic stability control system.
DOT must also require at least eight hours of behind-the-wheel training for school bus operators that meets specified requirements.
Further, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) must issue rules on the evaluation of safety sensitive personnel for moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea.
NHTSA must also study the benefits of requiring school buses manufactured in, or imported into, the United States to be equipped with a motion-activated detection system that is capable of detecting road users (e.g., pedestrians and bicyclists) and alerting the bus operator of their presence. NHTSA must issue rules implementing such a requirement.
Finally, DOT must establish a grant program to assist local educational agencies in (1) purchasing school buses equipped with three-point safety belts or any of the other safety features required under this bill, and (2) modifying existing school buses.
Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 828 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 828
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue rules requiring the
inclusion of new safety equipment in school buses, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 4, 2025
Ms. Duckworth introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue rules requiring the
inclusion of new safety equipment in school buses, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``School Bus Safety Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) 3-point safety belt.--The term ``3-point safety belt''
has the meaning given the term ``Type 2 seat belt assembly'' in
section 571.209 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in
effect on the date of enactment of this Act).
(2) Automatic emergency braking system.--The term
``automatic emergency braking system'' means a crash avoidance
system installed and operational in a vehicle that consists
of--
(A) a forward collision warning function--
(i) to detect vehicles and objects ahead of
the vehicle; and
(ii) to alert the operator of the vehicle
of an impending collision; and
(B) a crash-imminent braking function to provide
automatic braking when forward-looking sensors of the
vehicle indicate that--
(i) a crash is imminent; and
(ii) the operator of the vehicle is not
reacting in a timely or appropriate manner.
(3) Event data recorder.--The term ``event data recorder''
has the meaning given the term in section 563.5(b) of title 49,
Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of
enactment of this Act).
(4) School bus.--The term ``school bus'' has the meaning
given the term ``schoolbus'' in section 30125(a) of title 49,
United States Code.
(5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Transportation.
SEC. 3. SCHOOL BUS SAFETY.
(a) Seat Belt Requirement.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue final rules
prescribing or amending motor vehicle safety standards under chapter
301 of title 49, United States Code, to require school buses with a
gross vehicle weight rating of greater than 10,000 pounds to be
equipped with a 3-point safety belt at each designated seating
position.
(b) Fire Protection Requirements.--
(1) Fire suppression systems.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
issue rules prescribing or amending motor vehicle
safety standards under chapter 301 of title 49, United
States Code, to require school buses to be equipped
with fire suppression systems that, at a minimum,
address engine fires.
(B) Application.--The standards prescribed or
amendments made under subparagraph (A) shall apply to
school buses manufactured in, or imported into, the
United States on or after the effective date of the
standards or amendments.
(2) Firewalls.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall
issue rules prescribing or amending motor vehicle
safety standards under chapter 301 of title 49, United
States Code, for school buses, especially school buses
with engines that extend beyond the firewall, to ensure
that no hazardous quantity of gas or flame can pass
through the firewall from the engine compartment to the
passenger compartment.
(B) Application.--The standards prescribed or
amendments made under subparagraph (A) shall apply to
school buses manufactured in, or imported into, the
United States on or after the effective date of the
standards or amendments.
(3) Interior flammability and smoke emissions
characteristics.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall amend section
571.302 of title 49, Code of Federal Regulations (relating to
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 302), to adopt,
with respect to a motor vehicle (as defined in section 30102(a)
of title 49, United States Code), performance standards for
interior flammability and smoke emissions characteristics that
are not less rigorous than the performance standards for
interior flammability and smoke emissions characteristics
applicable to--
(A) a compartment occupied by the crew or
passengers of a transport category airplane (within the
meaning of part 25 of title 14, Code of Federal
Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of
this Act)) under section 25.853 of title 14, Code of
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of
enactment of this Act); and
(B) a passenger car or locomotive cab (as those
terms are defined in section 238.5 of title 49, Code of
Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of
enactment of this Act)) under section 238.103 of title
49, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the
date of enactment of this Act).
(c) Other Safety Equipment Requirements.--Not later than 1 year
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue
final rules--
(1) prescribing or amending motor vehicle safety standards
under chapter 301 of title 49, United States Code, to require
school buses to be equipped with--
(A) an automatic emergency braking system;
(B) an event data recorder; and
(C) an electronic stability control system (as
defined in section 571.136 of title 49, Code of Federal
Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of
this Act)); and
(2) amending part 383 of title 49, Code of Federal
Regulations, to require not less than 8 hours of behind-the-
wheel instruction for operators of school buses, which shall be
accrued--
(A) on public roads; and
(B) with a trained instructor who possesses a valid
commercial driver's license with a school bus
endorsement.
(d) Obstructive Sleep Apnea.--Not later than 1 year after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Federal Motor
Carrier Safety Administration and the Administrator of the Federal
Railroad Administration shall complete the rulemaking process and
publish a final rule with respect to the advance notice of proposed
rulemaking entitled ``Evaluation of Safety Sensitive Personnel for
Moderate-to-Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea'' (81 Fed. Reg. 12642 (March
10, 2016)).
(e) Effective Date.--The standards prescribed or amendments made
under subsections (a) and (c) shall apply with respect to school buses
manufactured in, or imported into, the United States on or after the
date that is 1 year after the date on which the Secretary issues the
rules required under the applicable subsection.
SEC. 4. STUDIES.
(a) Motion-Activated Detection Systems.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (referred to in this
section as the ``Administrator'') shall complete a study with
respect to the benefits of requiring school buses manufactured
in, or imported into, the United States to be equipped with a
motion-activated detection system that is capable of--
(A) detecting pedestrians, bicyclists, and other
road users located near the exterior of the school bus;
and
(B) alerting the operator of the school bus of the
road users described in subparagraph (A).
(2) Regulations.--Not later than 1 year after the date on
which the Administrator completes the study under paragraph
(1), the Administrator shall issue rules requiring school buses
manufactured in, or imported into, the United States to
effectuate that requirement.
(b) Safety Belt Alert.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall complete a study on the
benefits of requiring school buses manufactured in, or imported into,
the United States to be equipped with a system to alert the operator of
the school bus if a passenger in the school bus is not wearing a 3-
point safety belt equipped on the school bus.
SEC. 5. SAFETY GRANT PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment
of this Act, the Secretary of Transportation shall establish a grant
program to provide grants to States to make subgrants to local
educational agencies--
(1) to assist the local educational agencies in purchasing
school buses equipped with--
(A) 3-point safety belts at each designated seating
position; or
(B) any other school bus safety feature described
in section 3 or 4; and
(2) to assist the local educational agencies in modifying
school buses already owned by the local educational agency to
be equipped with--
(A) 3-point safety belts at each designated seating
position; or
(B) any other school bus safety feature described
in section 3 or 4.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section.
<all>