Legislators renew push for seat belts on school buses

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The debate over seat belts on school buses will return to the Roundhouse at the next legislative session. State Rep. Bill Rehm, R-Albuquerque, plans to bring back a proposal to make them mandatory.

"Until we put pressure on the school districts to mandate that they’re going to take the safety of our children first, then I’m going to have opposition for this legislation," Rehm said.

In the 2019 legislative session, a bill that would have required seat belts on all new school buses unanimously passed the House but died in the Senate. Rehm said he faced pushback over the price.

"Because the cost was about an additional $5,000 per bus," he said.

Rehm thinks seat belts would have made a big difference in Wednesday’s rollover school bus crash.

"When the vehicle rolls, the problem is you being to rotate around your center of mass and you’re thrown around like you’re in a blender," Rehm said. "We’re lucky no students were ejected from that vehicle."