(ALBANY, NY) - Today, Senator Jeremy Cooney (D-Rochester) announced that before the end of this year’s legislative session, his bill (S8691) passed which would mandate pre-trip safety briefings to be conducted by drivers prior to trips on charter buses. The Senator’s bill comes following a number of high-profile tragedies involving charter buses over the past several years, including the crash on the New York State Thruway in Genesee County last year that resulted in the deaths of five individuals. 

“Seatbelts prevent tragedies, seatbelts get passengers home safe, seatbelts save lives,” said Senator Cooney. “We’ve seen far too many tragedies in our state where New Yorkers didn’t get the opportunity to return home to their loved ones. It’s a scenario no family should ever have to face. As the Senate Transportation Chair, safety is and will always remain my top priority, because our public transportation systems can only be successful in New York if our neighbors can get to their destination safe and sound.” 

In 2016, federal regulations changed to mandate that new charter buses must be equipped with seatbelts for passengers; however, passengers were not mandated to physically wear these seatbelts while on a bus. In 2025, a bill of Senator Cooney’s (S9361) was signed into law to change this in New York, requiring passengers to wear seatbelts on motorcoaches. This legislation was passed following a tragedy on Long Island in which two adult chaperones lost their lives on a school trip following a crash.

Despite this legislation passing last year, the Senator noted that more efforts are necessary to inform New Yorkers of the new laws and regulations and the potential consequences of not wearing a seatbelt on charter buses. Senator Cooney explained that his 2026 bill would make drivers conduct a pre-trip safety briefing to inform passengers of the new seat belt requirements prior to the start of the trip. This was one of several recommendations provided by the National Transportation Safety Board in the wake of the Farmingdale High School crash on Long Island. 

According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seatbelts are shown to reduce fatalities by 44% and severe injuries by 45% on buses. While the bus that crashed in Genesee County was equipped with seatbelts last year, an investigation showed that most passengers were not using the seatbelts on the bus. 

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