At its meeting on September 25, 2003, the State School Bus Committee, acting on an appeal request from the Indiana State Police Department, took action to require all school buses to be equipped with a seat belt webbing cutter no later than October 1, 2004.

The seat belt webbing cutter must:

• have a full width hand grip;
• have a protected blade; and
• be securely mounted and located in the drivers compartment within an arm's reach of the driver.

No other type of webbing cutter is permitted. (e.g., box cutter, utility knife, scissors, etc.)

The School Bus Committee did not specify a specific location or mounting style for the webbing cutter to allow for variations in driver compartment configurations and styles of webbing cutters.

If you have any questions please contact the Division of School Traffic Safety and Emergency Planning.