On October 28, 2025, the National Transportation Safety Board released interim findings and recommendations regarding a serious school bus accident in Leander, Texas, in August of 2025.
The NTSB forwarded recommendations to that school district, the state of Texas, and several national school transportation organizations, including NAPT.
The NTSB focused on the inconsistent and improper use of lap/shoulder belts on school buses in Texas despite a requirement for their use.
We note that NAPT recently adopted a policy statement on the issue of lap/shoulder belts on school buses (www.napt.org/advocacy) that encouraged our members and school districts across the nation to determine the use of lap/shoulder belts based on their local needs.
With this urgent recommendation from NTSB, we are informing our members of the nature of the Leander accident and the importance of using the belts when they are in place. These recommendations, offered in an urgent manner, should prompt states and school districts to review their policies related to lap/shoulder belts from a student safety perspective.
We are including below the explanatory article offered by NTSB to entities like NAPT that received formal recommendations in the report.
Ensuring Passenger Seat Belt Use on School Buses
School Bus Roadway Departure and Rollover, Leander, Texas
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued an interim report to urge immediate action to increase school bus passenger safety as part of its ongoing investigation of a school bus crash that occurred in Leander, Texas, on August 13, 2025. Sixteen of the 46 passengers and the bus driver were injured. The school bus was traveling south on a rural, two-lane, undivided roadway when it crossed over the centerline, returned to the travel lane, and then departed the roadway to the right. The bus rolled onto its right (or loading door) side, continued onto its roof, and came to rest on its left side on the slope next to the roadway. During the rollover sequence, the bus struck roadside vegetation, causing additional damage to the roof and intrusion into the right side of the passenger compartment.
Safety Outcomes
Lap/shoulder belts were available in all seating positions, and five-point harnesses for pre-school passengers’ use were available in some seats. However, only six of the 42 passengers visible in the onboard video footage (out of the 46 passengers onboard) were belted at the time of the crash. When the school bus departed the roadway and began to roll over, the unbelted passengers were thrown from their seating compartments and into the roof area, striking the ceiling of the school bus and other passengers. As the bus rolled further and came to rest, unbelted passengers ended up on the left side of the bus and on top of other passengers, the seats, and the left-side windows. The non-use of the available lap/shoulder belts and five-point harnesses by most passengers resulted in occupant-to-interior and occupant-to-occupant impacts, leading to injuries for many of the unbelted passengers. Of the six belted passengers, four were improperly belted, wearing only the lap portion of the lap/shoulder belt. The improperly belted passengers, using only the lap portion of the lap/shoulder belt, were only partially restrained and subject to injury from upper body flailing and occupant-to-occupant impact.
Moving Forward
The Leander school bus roadway departure and rollover crash showed the same safety deficiencies that the NTSB has been identifying for decades. The traditional form of occupant protection, compartmentalization, is ineffective in rollovers and side-impact crashes because occupants can be thrown from the protective seating compartment and exposed to harmful impacts inside the school bus. Also, precrash vehicle maneuvers can throw passengers from their seats so that even in crashes where compartmentalization could be effective, the passengers are not fully protected. Properly worn lap/shoulder belts provide the best protection for school bus passengers in all crash scenarios, including frontal-, side-, and rear-impact collisions and rollovers.
For years, the NTSB has recommended that NHTSA and the states require new large school buses to be equipped with passenger lap/shoulder belts for all passenger seating positions. In the Leander crash, lap/shoulder belts and five-point harnesses were available but largely unused. Additionally, the belted students who were fully visible in the onboard video footage wore their belts improperly, wearing only the lap portion of the lap/shoulder belt. The installation of passenger lap/shoulder belts on new school buses—combined with enforceable policies and procedures to ensure that every student wears them properly—will provide the best protection for students in the event of a crash.
What can states, school districts, and school transportation officials do?
• Require new large school buses to be equipped with passenger lap/shoulder belts for all passenger seating positions in accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 222.
• Require that passengers use seat belts properly on equipped school buses.
• Establish and implement enforceable policies and procedures so that passengers on every school bus equipped with seat belts are properly restrained by the lap/shoulder belt or five-point harness, as appropriate, on every trip. Policies and procedures should address, at a minimum:
o Mandatory pre-departure driver instruction to students to properly belt and periodic pre-departure inspection by drivers or other staff to ensure each student is properly belted
o Periodic review of onboard video to verify seat belt use
o Increased training and education for school administrators and staff, bus drivers, parents, and students about proper seat belt use
Need additional information?
To access the NTSB’s report, visit the Leander, Texas, investigation page. For more information about previous investigations, visit NTSB’s School Bus Safety website.
For more information about previous NTSB investigations, see (a) Decatur, Tennessee; (b) Helena, Montana; (c) Anaheim, California; (d) Chesterfield, New Jersey; (e) Bus Crashworthiness Issues; (f) Selective Issues in School Bus Transportation Safety; (g) Monaville, Texas.