Here's what progress Corpus Christi schools have made in adding seat belts to school buses

In the Corpus Christi area, some school buses still don't have seat belts.

Almost all school buses in Corpus Christi ISD are equipped with seat belts, but in other nearby smaller districts, some students are still transported to and from school without a seat belt.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, school buses are the safest form of school transportation, but seat belts can further enhance protection.

Last week, a Hays ISD pre-K student died after a school bus was hit by a concrete truck that veered into the wrong lane. The bus was transporting 44 students and 11 adults back from a field trip, and during the crash, several students flew out of the bus, according to reporting from the Austin American-Statesman.

According to the Statesman's reporting, the bus was a 2011 model without seat belts.

Do Corpus Christi school buses have seat belts?

Locally, whether or not school buses have seat belts depends on the school district.

In Corpus Christi ISD, the largest local district serving over 33,000 students, nearly all school buses are equipped with seat belts.

The district's fleet includes 135 buses with seatbelts, and only 16 without. These buses without seat belts remain in the fleet only as spare buses and are "rarely used", according to a statement shared by CCISD associate director of communications Lyndall Gathright on Monday.

These spare buses without seat belts are scheduled to be taken out of service and disposed of over the next two years, according to the district.

Flour Bluff ISD has 36 buses with seat belts and about 15 without seatbelts, according to a Monday email from district spokesperson Kristen Bily.

Eight of the school buses without seat belts are used for bus routes with an estimated 47 to 68 riders.

Tuloso-Midway ISD has a fleet of 38 school buses, of which 17 have seat belts.

"Every bus purchased after 2017 has the required three-point seatbelts," according to an email from T-MISD assistant superintendent for district operations Patrick Hernandez.

Tuloso-Midway ISD also approved the purchase of three full-size buses and two smaller 15-passenger buses in February. All of these new vehicles will be equipped with seat belts.

The Caller-Times also reached out to London ISD, West Oso ISD and Calallen ISD on Monday and Tuesday, but did not receive any information back before deadline.

Why don't some school buses have seat belts?

Many school buses across the country aren't equipped with seat belts.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, only six student passengers die in school bus crashes each year, compared to about 2,000 children who are killed in motor vehicle crashes annually.

The school bus design of closely spaced, high, energy-absorbing seat backs helps protect passengers. But, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, this "compartmentalization" is not enough to prevent all injuries.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommends that schools invest in vehicles with seat belts when purchasing new school buses.

Since 2017, Texas law has required schools to ensure that new school buses have three-point seat belts installed. But the law doesn't apply to buses that are 2017 models or older. Additionally, districts can also purchase newer models without seat belts if the local school board determines the district's budget doesn't allow it to buy buses with seat belts.

According to the Texas Education Agency, which collects data on school bus crashes from school districts, 1,634 crashes were reported by 978 school districts from the 2022-23 school year.

School districts reported more seat belt types than accidents, reporting that 1,922 buses were equipped with a driver's seat belt and 1,025 were equipped with either a lap belt or three-point seat belt for all passenger seats. About 300 buses had seat belts in at least some passenger seats.

There were no fatal injuries last year.

The school districts reported that 34 students were injured not wearing their seat belts and 91 were sitting in seats that were not equipped with seat belts. Eighteen injured students were wearing a lap belt, while 103 were wearing a three-point seat belt.

Though the total injuries for students wearing a seat belt and students not wearing a seat belt appear similar, there were far fewer buses without seat belts included in the reports.

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: What to know about seat belts in school buses