Sen. Sherrod Brown ad touts bus safety requirements

“At David’s funeral, I vowed that something good would come of this, and thanks to Sherrod Brown, it has,” Betts says in the clip. “Sherrod Brown brought both Republican and Democrats together to get a bill passed that had not been passed in 50 years. Now buses are required to have seat belts, stronger windows and better driver training.”

The ad, called “Bluffton,” concludes with Betts saying “[A]s a father, what Sherrod Brown did for me was to help me fulfill a promise. And I don’t think I can think of anything greater than that.”

Congress held several hearings about bus safety after a string of accidents involving discount buses.

The bus safety requirements being touted by Brown’s campaign was included in the $105 billion transportation bill that was passed by lawmakers this year.

The standalone measure of the bill had been co-sponsored in the Senate and vocally supported by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), who is retiring at the end of this year.

Polls show Brown leading his race with Ohio State Treasurer Josh Mandel (R). Brown has touted his stance on transportation issues in campaign advertising in the past, most notably his support for the bailouts that were given to the U.S. auto industry in 2008 and 2009.

– This post was updated at 4:31 p.m. to correct that the bus safety provisions were included in the recently approved federal transportation bill.