NASHVILLE (AP) — A federal transportation panel is recommending to states that all new large school buses be equipped with seatbelts.
The National Transportation Safety Board approved the lap-shoulder seatbelt recommendation Tuesday in Washington.
Chairman Robert Sumwalt said the agency has previously tiptoed around the issue, saying it's time to take a hard stance.
The recommendation came during a meeting about deadly school bus crashes in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Baltimore in November 2016.
Last week, a student and teacher were killed when a school bus on a field trip collided with a dump truck in New Jersey.
The board recommended that New Jersey, Florida, Louisiana and New York upgrade requirements from lap belts to lap shoulder belts.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, eight states require seatbelts on large school buses.