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Grieving parents and researchers press lawmakers to require seat-belt use on motor coaches
Summary
Sarah's Wish Foundation and UMass Transportation Center speakers urged the committee to add motor coaches to Massachusetts' seat-belt law and to require passengers to buckle up, citing studies showing low use and examples from other states.
Family members of a crash victim and transportation researchers asked the joint committee to adopt a law requiring motor-coach passengers to use seat belts.
Anne Shewey of Sarah's Wish Foundation said her daughter died in a motor-coach crash and that seat-belt use on motor coaches is extremely low, "on the order of less than 5% on many routes in Massachusetts." Shewey said motor coaches are being manufactured with seat belts but that passengers rarely wear them, and she urged lawmakers to act now rather than wait for another tragedy.
John Kulara of the UMass Transportation Center testified that low-cost interventions—signage in terminals and on buses—can raise belt use substantially, and he cited pilot work with operators including Greyhound, Peter Pan and regional carriers. He said studies in other states such as California show consumer behavior can change following state laws and that adding motor coaches to the existing seat-belt statute would align Massachusetts with that practice.
Witnesses noted two states, New York and California, already have motor-coach seat-belt laws following fatal crashes. The committee took testimony on House Bill 2601; no vote on the measure was recorded at the hearing.
