I’m Joel DeWeil and I live in Chattanooga, TN. There was a recent school bus tragedy in my city, where a school bus driver crashed a bus carrying elementary school-aged children. His actions caused the injury or death of children as young as 5 years old.

No one knows exactly why the bus driver lost control and swerved off the road. But his actions caused the bus to flip over -- sending children flying all around. A dozen students were hospitalized with severe head or spinal injuries. Six young children were killed right before the holidays. Our entire community has been devastated by this event.

Whether you have children in the school system or not, we can all agree that children deserve safety and protection. I believe these injuries and deaths could have been prevented if these kids had access to safety belts.

While the authorities investigate the causes of the accident and look for ways to ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again, concerned citizens can demand action. We know safety belts can save lives. Why not make them a requirement for the buses that transport our kids to and from school every day?

Let’s do what we can to make sure that what happened in Chattanooga won’t happen in another American city. Please sign this petition today and tell the U.S. Transportation Secretary that we want our children to have safety belts on their school buses.