For essentially my whole life I have wondered why school buses did not come equipt with seat belts…
We protect our children above anyone else in the world. We ALWAYS take care of kids first – then mothers – then fathers.
Yet the safety of school buses is always, let’s put it nicely…questionable. There is no federal standard for school buses. It is 100% up to the state.
With that, some states have added additional safety features to make kids safer, and their parents more comfortable with their little ones riding the school bus.
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New York State and Arkansas are the two states with the safest school buses. Truthfully, they seem to be the only two states that have any REAL safety features in place.
Both NY and AK require school buses to have seat belts AND a stop arm camera.
You know when a school bus stops and the stop sign comes out 90 degrees? It is unlawful to pass that. The stop sign is a signal to traffic in both directions that a child may be crossing the street in front of the bus.
senior school bus driver looking at teens walking behind busGetty Images
The stop-arm camera captures anyone who violates that law.
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Seven states in the United States require seatbelts only in their school buses and 20 states require the stop arm camera.
In New England, Maine, Connecticut, and Rhode Island are the only states that require a stop-arm camera.
In New England, not ONE state requires a seatbelt.
In New Hampshire and Massachusetts…nothing. There are zero additional safety measures added to school buses. No stop-arm camera. No seatbelt. Nothing.
Shouldn’t we be doing more? I think BOTH safety features should be required in all states. I was shocked to see that there was nothing in MA and NH.
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Good for Maine for requiring the stop-arm camera, but that only helps catch a criminal…not keep our kids safe.
Do you think school buses need more safety features?
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WILTON, N.H. (WHDH) – A woman died in a Wilton, New Hampshire, house fire Wednesday morning, according to the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office.
At 9:08 a.m., Wilton firefighters responded to Burns Hill Road after a caller said their home was filling up with smoke. When they arrived, a single-family home was on fire and they found out two people were still inside on the second floor.
A man and a woman were both taken out of the house by firefighters and taken to Elliott Hospital. The woman was pronounced dead and the man is in serious condition.
Officials have not released the name of the victim at this time.
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At this time, investigators are looking into the cause of the fire and are trying to determine if a power outage in the area played a factor. The fire is not currently considered suspicious.
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Diane Durgin, 67, is accused of shooting at a Black man who inadvertently drove to her property after a prearranged truck part sale, prosecutors said.
A New Hampshire woman is accused of violating the state’s Civil Rights Act four times after she allegedly shot at a man because he was Black, prosecutors said.
Diane Durgin, 67, of Weare, N.H. could face up to a $5,000 fine for each violation she is found to have committed, the office of New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a press release Tuesday.
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Durgin is also charged with criminal threatening against a person with a deadly weapon and attempted first degree assault with a deadly weapon, Michael Garrity, a media representative for the New Hampshire Attorney General, said in an emailed statement to Boston.com.
Durgin had a final pre-trial conference last week, Garrity said.
In a civil complaint filed Tuesday, Durgin is accused of threatening physical force against the victim, the AG said. Prosecutors asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction barring Durgin from repeating her alleged behavior and from contacting the victim and his family.
During the morning hours of Oct. 20, 2024, the victim claims, he “mistakenly” drove to Durgin’s home after a prearranged purchase of a truck part with a seller online, prosecutors wrote as part of their request for an injunction.
When the man — whom prosecutors identified in court documents as X.G. — arrived, Durgin allegedly stepped out of her home and approached his car with a gun “holstered by her waist,” prosecutors wrote.
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Upon noticing that X.G. was Black, Durgin allegedly “removed her gun and pointed it at X.G.,” prosecutors said in the injunction request.
While X.G. explained that he was lost, Durgin called the victim a “Black mother[expletive],” and threatened to “kill him,” prosecutors allege.
As the victim attempted to drive away, Durgin allegedly took her gun and fired two shots at the fleeing man’s car, missing both times, the AG’s office said.
While on the phone with a dispatcher, Durgin allegedly said she shot the man’s car because the victim is Black, the AG said.
“The guy is Black. And he, he…he says he’s meeting someone here and I think he’s coming here to steal,” Durgin allegedly said.
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Police located X.G. and brought him to the Weare Police Department, stopping along the way at the correct seller’s home to complete the truck part purchase, prosecutors wrote in court documents.
To prove a violation of the New Hampshire Civil Rights Act, the AG must show that Durgin “interfered or attempted to interfere with the rights of the victim to engage in lawful activities by threatening to engage in or actually engage in physical force or violence, when such actual or threatening conduct was motivated by race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, or disability,” prosecutors said.
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