Texas lawmakers push for expanded seat belt requirements on school buses

AUSTIN, Texas - Lawmakers in the Texas Senate are hoping to advance a bill that would expand on a 2017 law requiring seat belts on school buses by removing exemptions and requiring retrofitting of old buses.

What we know:

The Senate Transportation Committee is set to hear Senate Bill 546 Wednesday.

The bill, authored by San Antonio Democrat Jose Menendez, would require all school buses to have seat belts.

READ MORE: Texas school bus crash: District says bus did not have seatbelts

The bill would expand on the 2017 law that requires 3-point seat belts on buses made after 2018.

Menendez's bill would require 3-point seat belts on all buses.

The bill would allow for 2-point seat belts for school districts that cannot afford to fit all their buses with a 3-point system.

Why don't all school buses in Texas have seat belts?

In 2017, Texas started requiring 3-point seat belts on all buses produced after 2018.

The law also provided exemptions for school districts that said the cost of putting seat belts on school buses would fall outside their budget, and it did not require a district to retrofit buses manufactured before 2018.

What we don't know:

Should the bill pass, it is unclear how much adding seat belts to school buses would cost each individual district.

The bill does not specify what the threshold is for a district to ask for an exemption to the 3-point seat belt requirement.

The legislative budget board indicated that the bill would add no additional costs to the state's budget, which implies all costs would fall on school districts.

What's the difference between a 3-point seat belt and a 2-point seat belt?

A 3-point seat belt is a seat belt that has both a shoulder strap and a lap strap. These are like the ones found in most vehicles.

A 2-point seat belt only has the lap portion. Lap belts are commonly found on commercial airplanes.