Family and UMass researchers urge committee to add motor coaches to state seatbelt law (S.2611)

Ann Shuey, founder of Sarah’s Wish Foundation, and John Kalura of the UMass Transportation Center urged the Joint Committee on Transportation to favor S.2611, which would add motor coach passengers to the Commonwealth’s seatbelt law.

“Our daughter, Sarah, died in a motor coach crash, and we've always felt that if she was wearing a seat belt, she would still be alive today,” Ann Shuey told the committee. She described the foundation’s work to increase seatbelt usage on motor coaches following a crash that killed seven people.

Shuey and Kalura said the majority of motor coaches are now equipped with seatbelts because of a 2016 federal rule requiring belts on new coaches, but voluntary use remains low. Kalura and Shuey told the committee that research the UMass center conducted with the National Safety Council and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found seatbelt use often under 5 percent on many routes; they said a 40-passenger coach frequently carries only one or two buckled passengers.

The witnesses noted that New York and California already require motor coach passengers to wear seatbelts; S.2611 would amend the Massachusetts Highway Seatbelt Law (section 1 of chapter 90) to include motor coaches. They said the bill contains no new funding and is intended to codify a use requirement that complements existing federal equipment rules.

Shuey asked the committee for legislative support and for the committee record to include the foundation’s materials. The transcript of the hearing shows testimony and a request that witnesses provide written materials; no committee vote was recorded in the hearing excerpt.