TULSA, Okla. — Recent accidents involving school buses in Oklahoma are raising questions about safety standards after HB 1244 requiring seat belts, failed to advance through the state legislature.
The renewed focus on bus safety comes three days after a Minco school bus carrying the softball team crashed. Oklahoma Highway Patrol said four of 18 people were ejected and several were seriously hurt in the accident.
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The incident has parents and officials again asking: Should school buses have seat belts?
"There's reasons why people were saying, hey, maybe we don't need seat belts and busses. There's reason for that, too," said Representative Mark Tedford.
I asked Tedford why a House bill to require seat belts didn't move forward. Lawmakers said the bill lacked funding details.
"It didn't have funding attached to it, so it basically required districts to buy these buses with seat belts, but didn't have any additional funding for what that cost would be," Tedford said.
According to National Bus Sales, the average price for a bus in Oklahoma can go up over $180,000.
The bill from Representative Jed Strom would require lap-and-shoulder belts in any vehicle with 10 or more seats bought or contracted after the law takes effect.
However, Tedford warned many existing buses would remain unchanged.
"So even if that bill would have passed, there still would have been a lot of buses out there, potentially without seat belts," he said.
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I also spoke with Representative John Waldron. He said the state should put money into other safety measures in schools rather than already safe school buses.
"The seats are above the level of cars on the street, the sides are reinforced, and the individual seats built into the bus are designed to absorb impact and compartmentalize. So kids are probably safer on a school bus than in a regular vehicle," Waldron said.
The National Transportation Safety Board, however, said lap-and-shoulder belts reduce injuries in rollovers compared with no belts.
Both lawmakers caution against a knee-jerk response and urge a broader strategy.
"If we only take one piece of the puzzle and deal with it individually, that's not a strategic approach. What are we paying our school bus drivers? Do we have enough qualified drivers for our buses?" Tedford said.
When asked if recent incidents could push the legislation further, Tedford said funding would be key.
"I think if we're serious about, you know, doing this, we would probably want to, need to put some money behind it as a state, if, if we, if we do look at it, but, you know, we'll see," he said.
Both representatives said if the bill is brought back next session, starting February 2026, they will look more closely at it and hope it has more context.
The author, Rep. Judd Strom, of the bill sent a statement saying in part:
While the legislation requiring seat belts on school buses remains active and under review, our immediate focus must be on supporting the Minco community right now. I continue to believe neighborhood busing is safe, but when those same buses are used for long-distance or activity travel on highways, the discussion remains important.
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