A serious bus crash outside of a private school in Middletown has prompted a new bill in the state Assembly.

The bill, A9270, has been introduced by Assembly Member Brian Maher. It would allow private schools, like Harmony Christian Day School, to become school zone areas with reduced speed limits.

A bus driver was seriously hurt leaving the school in January during a collision with a tractor-trailer on Route 211. The administration says another bus driver was killed in the same spot a decade ago.

The school’s principal said an application to become a school zone after the fatal accident was denied by the Department of Transportation and that a request for safety improvements were similarly denied by the DOT days before January’s crash.