RELEASE: Gottheimer, Booker Announce Bicameral, Bipartisan School Bus Safety Bills to Protect Students Nationwide

Above: Gottheimer, Booker announce legislation to protect children on school buses nationwide.

PARAMUS, NJ — Today, February 9, 2026, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) and U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to strengthen school bus safety in honor of Paramus student Miranda Vargas and ensure no family endures a similar tragedy.

Miranda was just 10 years old when she was tragically killed in the 2018 school bus crash. The bus driver made an illegal turn and was struck by a dump truck, killing Miranda and her social studies teacher, Jennifer Williamson. The bus driver’s license had been suspended 14 times since 1975, including just six months before the crash. Since that day, Gottheimer and Booker have worked closely with the Vargas family and state and local leaders to deliver protections for children.

The Secure Every Child Under the Right Equipment Standards (SECURES) Act is being introduced in the House and Senate to require three-point lap and shoulder seat belts on all school buses nationwide — bringing federal standards in line with proven safety best practices. Currently, only eight states require seat belts on large buses, including New Jersey — but this bill would protect all students across the country. Find the bill text here.

The Miranda Vargas School Bus Driver Red Flag Act — known as “Miranda’s Law” — is being introduced in the House and Senate to establish real-time background checks for school bus drivers. If a driver commits a serious traffic violation, schools and bus companies will be alerted within 24 hours, preventing unsafe drivers from transporting students. Find the bill text here.

“Every parent should trust that when their child gets on a bus, they’ll come home safely,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “These bills turn heartbreaking loss into action. There is nothing partisan or political about protecting our children. Working together across the aisle and across the country, we can make sure tragedies like the one here in Paramus never happen again.”

“This should not be a partisan issue. This is not Republican. This is not Democrat. This is human,” said Miranda’s father, Joevanny Vargas. “If we can find funding for so many other priorities, we can find funding to protect children. You cannot put a price tag on a child’s life.”

“Stories like Miranda’s are heartbreaking, and Congress must act to set national bus safety standards so tragedies like this never happen again,” said Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ). “I will continue to fight in Washington to pass legislation that ensures every child in America is safe while riding the bus to school.” 

“Parents shouldn’t have to worry about their children on the bus. The SECURES Act improves seat belt safety, and Miranda’s Law ensures drivers with serious violations are flagged immediately. By acting now, we can prevent tragedies before they happen,” said Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17), who is co-leading the bipartisan bills in the House.

Watch today’s press conference here.

Gottheimer is also working with the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) to ensure all bus companies in the state are in compliance with New Jersey’s state-level version of Miranda’s Law. OSC found that by the start of the 2025-2026 school year, 16 bus companies in New Jersey failed to submit required compliance documents.    

School bus crashes injure and kill hundreds of people every year, and millions of children ride buses daily to school, activities, and field trips:

• Nearly 500,000 school buses carry more than 25 million students to school, activities, and home each day across this country.
• Between 2013 and 2022, New Jersey had the ninth most school bus crashes and fatalities in the nation. 
• On average, more than 26,000 accidents involving school buses occur every year. 
• According to the most recent data from the National Safety Council, in 2023, 128 school bus passengers died in fatal crashes, and more than 5,000 school bus passengers were injured on buses due to crashes.
  • This was a 23% increase compared to 104 deaths in 2022.

Gottheimer and Booker were joined at West Brook Middle School today by Miranda Vargas’ father, Joevanny Vargas, Assemblywoman Lisa Swain (LD-38), Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco, Bergen County Commissioners Mary Amorosso, Rafael Marte, Germaine Ortiz, and Tracy Zur, Paramus Mayor Chris DiPiazza, Superintendent Sean Adams, and safety advocates calling for swift action to pass the bills.

Below: Gottheimer, Booker announce legislation to protect children on school buses.

Gottheimer’s remarks as prepared for delivery can be found below: 

Every morning, millions of parents watch their kids step onto a school bus believing they’ll come home safe. No parent should ever have to worry that a ride to school could cost their child their life — yet that fear is real for too many families.

I understand why they’re worried. Just ask my friend, Paramus resident, and Miranda’s dad, Joevanny Vargas.

There are more than 26,000 school bus accidents a year. Between 2013 and 2022, New Jersey had the ninth most fatal school bus crashes in the nation. According to the most recent data from the National Safety Council, in 2023, 128 died as a result of school bus-related crashes — 11,600 were injured. Just last year, in Wall Township in Monmouth, a driver and four students were taken to the hospital after a school bus collided with a van on I-195. 

Behind every statistic is a name — a family, a birthday not celebrated, and a child who will never have the chance to grow up. The most depressing part of these: some of these injuries and fatalities could have been prevented with better safety measures. Miranda would have turned 18 this June.

That’s why we are here today — not as politicians, but as parents united by one unshakable truth: every child deserves to arrive at school, go on field trips or to after-school events, and return home safely. 

Nearly 500,000 school buses carry more than 25 million students to school, activities, and home each day across this country. 

And every parent deserves peace of mind each morning when their child steps onto that big yellow bus that the person behind the wheel is qualified to be responsible for their child.

But that’s not always the case. 

In May 2018, Miranda’s bus driver made an illegal turn on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, while driving students on the way to a field trip from East Brook Middle School in Paramus. A dump truck then slammed into the bus, killing Miranda and her social studies teacher, Jennifer Williamson. 

The driver should not have been behind the wheel of that bus. That bus driver’s license had been suspended 14 times since 1975, including just six months before the crash. 

Miranda’s loss shook our community, and it shook our nation. As Joevanny has told me since day one, we must transform tragedy into action for other children and families.

That’s why today, with my good friend Senator Cory Booker, we are introducing bipartisan legislation — in both the House and the Senate — in honor of Miranda and every child who boards a bus across our country. These bills reflect the values that define us: compassion, courage, and commitment to the safety of our children.

Our package includes not one, but two critical bipartisan, bicameral bills:

First, I am reintroducing the bipartisan Secure Every Child Under the Right Equipment Standards, or the SECURES Act, with my House colleague, Rep. Mike Lawler of New York. When it becomes law, it will require three-point lap and shoulder seat belts on every school bus in America. These aren’t luxury features — they are life-saving measures. They are the three-point belts, or lap and shoulder belts, that we use every day when we get into our cars and trucks.

And they work – there is a reason they are required and aren’t optional like they are on a school bus. We know that they save lives when children are in a crash.   Today, only eight states require large school buses to have seat belts – including Jersey, thanks to Senator Lagana and Assemblymembers Swain and Tully. That means 42 states are missing an opportunity to better protect our children. That is just unacceptable. Cory and I want to change that. 

Second, I am reintroducing the bipartisan Miranda Vargas School Bus Driver Red Flag Act — or “Miranda’s Law,” also with my House colleague, Rep. Mike Lawler of New York.

This bill ensures that real-time background checks catch unsafe driving behavior before tragedy can strike again. If a bus driver has a violation for anything beyond a parking ticket — reckless driving, DUIs, other dangerous behavior — then the school, bus company, and parents will be alerted within 24 hours. 

This will stop any unqualified drivers from being behind the wheel of our school buses, and it will protect our children. Right now, most drivers get a check in the beginning of the school year, but if something happens before their next check, the school will never find out. 

No parent should ever have to wonder whether the person behind the wheel of their child’s bus is fit to be there. Real-time alerts give school districts the tools to act immediately and decisively — and that’s exactly what Miranda’s Law will deliver.

More good news: Jersey also has a version of Miranda’s law, thanks to Senator Lagana and Assemblymembers Swain and Tully. The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) conducted a high-level review of data collected under the new law for the 2024-2025 school year. The data showed that a statewide total of 109 school bus companies were not in compliance. This was an improvement from the year before, in which close to 300 school bus companies in 21 counties were non-compliant. This legislation is proving to have real results. The State Comptroller then conducted a follow-up prior to the start of the 2025-2026 school year. The bad news: 16 school bus companies – and eight counties — are still not compliant with New Jersey’s Miranda’s Law. That’s not good at all.

So, third, I am sending a letter to the New Jersey State Comptroller to provide me with a current list of schools, companies, and counties that are not following the law, reasons why they aren’t, and how we can remedy it. We must protect our children. This is all about safety and prevention. Just like we require seat belts in cars and helmets on bicycles, we must demand the highest standards of safety for the vehicles and people entrusted with our children.

As a parent myself, I know that feeling all too well. This is a trust that shouldn’t be taken lightly, and one we should do everything in our power to uphold.

This is about ensuring that no other family walks the painful path of the Vargas family without knowing that the people they put their trust in did everything in their power to protect them.

I want to again thank Senator Booker for being a true partner in this fight, along with my colleagues at the local, county, and state level.  Cory and I are both strong believers in this legislation on that federal level, and that no child’s life, in any corner of America, should be cut short because of a preventable tragedy.

There is nothing partisan or political about this. 

So, let us move forward together — across the aisle, in both the House and Senate, all around New Jersey, and across the nation — to ensure that our children are protected, and that tragedies like the one here in Paramus are not repeated.

I know that if we work together, here in the greatest country in the world, our best days will always be ahead of us.

Thank you — and God bless our children, our communities, and the United States of America.

###