NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — On March 27, two 13-year-old girls never made it home after boarding a bus for a school field trip. Dash camera video shows what led to the bus colliding with a dump truck: the bus drifted over the double line.
"Whether seatbelts would’ve made a difference in this particular incident will be explored as part of this investigation."
Zoe Davis's family filed a lawsuit against both the driver and the school district. Attorney Susan Neal Wiley explained they are considering all potential causes until the federal crash investigation is complete.
"The state of Tennessee has not made the decision to make seatbelts on every school bus mandatory, but that does not necessarily alleviate the responsibility of individual school systems," Wiley said.
Requiring seat belts on school buses to keep kids safe is not a new debate. State Senator Mark Pody told me he remembers debating the same issue in 2016 when a school bus crashed in Chattanooga. Six children were killed and 23 were hurt in that crash.
But 10 years later, Pody says it is time for a new solution: safety technology on school buses.
"We wanna make sure if we do mandate seat belts, it’s the right kind," Pody said.
Transportation vice chair Pody says already overwhelmed bus drivers have told him policing students' seatbelt use will be too much. With lane assist and front collision warning technology, Pody believes the recent crash could have been avoided.
"The two that I would want to push immediately as soon as we go back into session would be the lane assist and the front collision. To me that’s a no-brainer. Get those on our buses, at least the brand new ones coming in," Pody said.
"It will tell them through technology there is something, you need to slow down, and will help slow down the bus as well. That will give that driver a little extra warning and something would happen at that point," Pody said.
The technology is also more affordable. Pody says installing seatbelts would cost several thousand dollars more per bus.
"The cost of a child’s life shouldn’t have a cost of premium on it and I get that argument, but there’s only so much money to go around. It’s cheaper and its preventative. I think we should do it today," Pody said.
The legislative calendar this session will not allow that, but Pody promises a bill when the next legislative session begins in January.
"I brought everyone together across party lines to say, 'This could’ve been prevented had we done this a year ago.' Let’s make it happen right now," Pody said.
This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
