Government to Require Seat Belts on Large Buses

Federal regulators say they will require that new tour buses and buses that carry passengers on scheduled routes between cities be equipped with seat belts. It's a safety measure sought b y accident investigators for nearly half a century.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday that beginning in November 2016 all new motor coaches and other large buses must be equipped by manufacturers with three-point lap-shoulder belts.

The agency said an average of 212 people in such buses are killed each year in crashes, and thousands more are injured annually. The agency said seat belts could reduced fatalities and moderate-to-severe injures by nearly half.

Federal accident investigators first recommended motor coaches be equipped with seat belts in 1968 in response to a California highway crash that killed 19 passengers.

[Associated Press]