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Jeremy Cooney

Sponsor · State Senator, District 56 · Democratic/Working Families

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Senate bill · S8691 (2025-26)

Relates to pre-trip safety checks for charter buses

PassedLatest action Apr 29, 2026

Summary

Requires motor carriers that operate charter buses to have pre-trip safety briefings on the mandatory use of safety belts by passengers and fines for such violations.

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Where it stands

Passed the legislature and is awaiting a signature.

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Up for a vote
  4. Passed one chamber
  5. Passed
  6. Enacted

New York State Senate

Same as A9259, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Passed as A9259, the matching Assembly bill.

Amends the Vehicle and Traffic Law.

Committee

Transportation · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Transportation · New York State Senate.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

The purpose of this bill is to require that passengers on charter buses equipped with seatbelts are given a safety briefing informing them of the NYS law requiring their use.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

  • Vote: Floor vote

    NY SenateApr 29, 2026Result: passedSenate vote on A9259, the matching Assembly bill.

    (58) (0) (0) (5)

  • Vote: Committee vote · Transportation

    Senate TransportationFeb 4, 2026Result: passed

    (13) (0) (0) (0)

Cosponsors

Alicia Hyndman, David Weprin and 2 more on Agora

  • Democratic4
See the full list on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

The sponsor's argument

Why Jeremy Cooney says this is needed

The issue of charter bus safety continues to be an area concern. On August 22, 2025, a crash on the NYS Thruway near Pembroke, NY killed 5 passengers returning from a trip to Niagara Falls. While the bus was equipped with seatbelts, they 'were not in use by all passengers. Chapter 434 of the Laws of 2024 requires that charter bus passengers use seatbelts on buses equipped with them. This law was passed in response to another charter bus crash in Orange County in 2023. that killed 2 adult chaperones accompanying a group of Long Island students to a band camp. The NTSB report of the crash found that they were not wearing seatbelts, those passengers that were wearing them were relatively unin- jured. The NTSB report on the Orange County crash also recommended an update the NY seat belt to law to require charter bus drivers to provide a safety briefing on seat belt use prior to departure. This bill imple- ments that recommendation to require that charter bus drivers provide a pre-trip safety briefing on seat belt use and the NY law prior to depar- ture. The goal is to further encourage passengers on charter buses to buckle up and prevent future fatalities.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

  1. Apr 29, 2026

    3RD Reading CAL.253

    3RD READING CAL.253

    NY Senate

  2. Apr 29, 2026

    Passed a chamber

    PASSED SENATE

    NY Senate

  3. Apr 29, 2026

    Substituted

    SUBSTITUTED FOR S8691

    NY Senate

  4. Mar 4, 2026

    Sent to the executive

    DELIVERED TO SENATE

    NY Assembly

  5. Mar 4, 2026

    Passed a chamber

    PASSED ASSEMBLY

    NY Assembly

Show full history (10 earlier events)
  1. Mar 4, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

    NY Senate

  2. Feb 26, 2026

    Advanced to Third Reading CAL.277

    ADVANCED TO THIRD READING CAL.277

    NY Assembly

  3. Feb 25, 2026

    Reported out of committee

    REPORTED

    NY Assembly

  4. Feb 9, 2026

    Advanced to Third Reading

    ADVANCED TO THIRD READING

    NY Senate

  5. Feb 5, 2026

    2ND Report CAL.

    2ND REPORT CAL.

    NY Senate

  6. Feb 4, 2026

    1ST Report CAL.253

    1ST REPORT CAL.253

    NY Senate

  7. Jan 21, 2026

    Reported out of committee

    REPORTED REFERRED TO CODES

    NY Assembly

  8. Jan 7, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

    NY Senate

  9. Jan 7, 2026

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

    NY Assembly

  10. Nov 21, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

    NY Assembly

About this record

Summary

The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.

Cosponsors

The list shows the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

Party colors

Parties are shown in the same neutral colors.

Source

From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Oct 22, 2026. About our data

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