Hungary may tighten school travel laws after Italy bus crash

FILE - This Jan. 21, 2017 file photo shows the gutted remains of the bus that crashed along the A4 highway in Verona, Italy, Hungarian education authorities said Monday March 6, 2017 the government is seeking to review rules about long school trips in light of a January bus crash in Italy in which 16 people, mostly Hungarian students, were killed. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni,file) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2017 file photo, Budapest students light candles and put flowers at a makeshift memorial outside Szinyei Merse Pal Secondary School to pay tribute to victims of the crash of a Hungarian bus in Italy in Budapest. Hungarian education authorities said Monday March 6, 2017 the government is seeking to review rules about long school trips in light of a January bus crash in Italy in which 16 people, mostly Hungarian students, were killed.. (Bea Kallos/MTI via AP,file) (The Associated Press)

BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungarian education authorities say the government is seeking to review rules about long school trips in light of a January bus crash in Italy that killed 16 people, mostly Hungarian students.

A change being considered would ban buses carrying students on multi-day school excursions abroad from operating between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.

Education State Secretary Laszlo Palkovics said Monday that the government was launching an online questionnaire about some of the new rules, including the potential tightening of health requirements for bus drivers working overnight and stricter technical inspections for school buses.

The cause of the late night crash on Jan. 20 is still under investigation. The bus was carrying mostly Budapest high school students and teachers returning from a skiing trip in France.