WHEREAS, millions of children in the United States begin and end each day with a trip on a school bus; and

WHEREAS, thousands of injuries to children occur each year involving school buses, sometimes ending with tragic fatalities; and

WHEREAS, in an recent incident in Hawaii, a school bus and large dump truck collided in Kaimuki causing injury to 12 children; and

WHEREAS, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act includes bus safety requirements and sets standards that require schools buses to be structurally and mechanically safe as also applied to pedestrian and occupant safety; and

WHEREAS, there is an increasing debate to the necessity of seat belts in school buses, however, the effects of installing seat belts are unknown; and

WHEREAS, the National Transportation Board concluded that the possible benefits of seat belts on school buses were insufficient for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to mandate the installation of seat belts on school buses; and

WHEREAS, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends that smaller children should "buckle up" and be secured in child passenger restraints as a passenger on a school bus; and

WHEREAS, in the past, bills have been introduced in the Hawaii House of Representatives for many years to require public and private elementary school children to wear seat belts on school buses; and

WHEREAS, last, and most important of all, the need to provide the maximum possible safety for children in school buses is of paramount importance and it offers parents and families a sense of security that all necessary precautions were taken to ensure the safety of their children; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, that Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to perform a study that:

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state Department of Transportation is requested to assist the Legislative Reference Bureau with this study by providing it with all relevant research and data already compiled and with any other pertinent information and assistance; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature at least 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, President of the Senate, Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, Director of the

Department of Transportation, President of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, Director of the Hawaii Association of Charter Schools, and the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Report Title:

Seat Belts