CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Many school bus drivers in Aransas Pass were getting their buses ready for the beginning of school which starts on Wednesday. They also received a refresher course on safety from local DPS Trooper Sgt. Rob Mallory.
"You guys as school bus drivers, you have the hardest driving job on the roadway," Mallory told the group during the presentation.
Mallory has been giving these safety talks with school districts around the area. He showed a video of the deadly Hays CISD school bus crash from March. The bus didn't have seatbelts. One child died after the bus rolled over and dozens of other children and adults were injured.
"Less than a month after this crash happened Hays County ISD votes unanimously to spend $4.7 million to buy 30 new busses and upgrade their current fleet with seatbelts," he said.
Aransas Pass ISD Transportation Supervisor Beth Ward said seatbelt use is also a high priority in the district .
"We just got new school busses this past school year with seatbelts in them, so we are using seatbelts," Ward said. "All of the students have to wear their seatbelts."
After the safety program Katie Matson checked out her bus to make sure it's ready to hit the pavement on Wednesday. She said safety is something that's always on her mind.
"It's been a very longtime since I had anything get close to happening," Matson said. "I credit that to me being hyper-vigilant as far as what's going on around me and staying away from everything."
Mallory said Troopers will be watching for drivers who don't stop for the school busses when their stops signs are out and lights are flashing. One of those tickets can set you back a little over a thousand dollars.