NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — A panel of experts will discuss the issue of seat belts on school buses at DATTCO’s Seventh Annual Sales & Service Expo, scheduled for April 1 at the Mohegan Sun Convention Center in Uncasville, Conn.

Seat belts on school buses and their effectiveness in preventing injuries in crashes has long been debated in the industry. Connecticut is the latest state to introduce legislation that would require the installation of belts on school buses, and SBF has followed the bill’s progress.

As we reported earlier this week, the bill was approved by the General Assembly’s Transportation Committee and it has been filed with the Legislative Commissioner’s Office. It will now move to the Office of Fiscal Analysis, which will add an estimate of the bill’s cost.      

The forum at DATTCO’s expo will be moderated by Robin Leeds, industry specialist for the National School Transportation Association, and will focus on safety data, seat belt options (such as retrofitting older buses), usage statistics, compliance and enforcement issues, costs and trends in legislation.

The panelists will include Judy Dupille of the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles; Officials from SafeGuard, C.E. White Co. and Freedman Seating Co.; Dave Harden of IC Bus; and Leslie Sheldon of All Star Transportation.

Also during the expo, DATTCO will debut its new driving simulator, which will be put into service this spring. DATTCO will use the simulator as a training enrichment tool and will make it available to fleet owners to develop their own customized training programs.

Moreover, the event will feature 80 booths with information on the latest in vehicles, commercial and school buses, equipment, parts, and advances in repairs and body shop work.

For more information, contact Stacey Mancarella at (800) 229-4879.