Hartford — The Senate on Wednesday night approved a wide-ranging Department of Motor Vehicles bill that includes incentives for school districts to upgrade their bus fleets with seat belts.

The bill, approved in a 36-0 vote, would also require all driving schools to be insured and licensed, and instructors to wear ID badges, said Sen. Christine Cohen, D-Guilford, co-chairwoman of the legislative Transportation Committee.

Cohen said that while in recent years there was a fund for districts to install safety belts for students, it no longer exists. "There is an account that is currently receiving money but unfortunately the program with which school districts could obtain a 50 percent sales-tax credit has expired, so we are simply reinstating that and ensuring that DMV in collaboration with the Department of Education, notifies school districts that they can, in fact, get this sales tax credit if they in fact install safety belts on school buses," Cohen said.

Cohen recalled that a constituent complained to her that their daughter was injured in a "scary" school bus accident. "We have learned that school bus safety belts are the way to go in terms of ensuring that our students to and from school are using that safety belt, and unfortunately, we just don't have them installed on school buses right now," she said. "We really want to incentivize this, and so that fund will do that and allow DMV to educate the districts.".

The bill, which next heads to the House of Representatives, would also, for the first time, ban people from riding in their vehicles that are being towed.