Legislator Renews Call For Seatbelts On Indiana School Buses

GRIFFITH, Ind. (AP) — Calls for seatbelts on Indiana's school buses are growing after a bus carrying a high school basketball team overturned in a crash.

The Griffith team was traveling to a state tournament game March 19 when police say the bus was sideswiped by a car and rolled over into a ditch near DeMotte. An assistant coach was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, while the other 26 players and staff members on the bus were treated and released.

Like most states, Indiana doesn't require seatbelts on school buses. Two bills in the Legislature calling for school bus seatbelts to be required didn't receive committee hearings this year.

State Sen. Earline Rogers of Gary has sent a letter to legislators asking for the issue to be put on a legislative study committee's agenda.