Gov. Rick Perry signed HB 323, which will require seat belts on all school buses, at Beaumont's West Brook High School. The West Brook community lobbied for the legislation after a 2006 bus crash killed two members of the girls soccer team.

A new bus fully equipped with three-point seat belts was on display at West Brook High School after Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill that will make the safety restraints mandatory by 2010.

After signing legislation that will require seat belts on school buses, Gov. Rick Perry hugs the mother of Alicia Bonura, one of the West Brook soccer team members killed in a bus crash last March.

On a rainy morning in March 2006, Beaumont's West Brook High School Girls Soccer Team boarded a bus, the team full of excitement on its way to a playoff tournament. A few hours later, the bus was skidding off the road on its side, tossing the young athletes around like ragdolls, ejecting several girls onto the pavement and crushing them.

Two girls, at the prime of their young lives, Ashley Brown and Alicia Bonura, did not survive. Dozens of others were hospitalized with critical, life-changing injuries.

On Friday, June 8, Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill to help such a tragedy from happening again.

Perry signed House Bill 323 into law at the Beaumont high school, surrounded by the families of the victims, the surviving team members and local and state lawmakers. The bill will require that all school buses in Texas have lap-shoulder three point seat belts in every seat.

"This legislation will not only save lives, it will give parents peace of mind every morning their children leave their home for school and climb aboard a school bus," Perry said. "Putting seat belts on school buses will give parents greater assurance that their precious children will be safer when they are out of their sight and not under their control."

"Ashley and Alicia's Law" includes provisions that three point seat belts must be present in all school buses purchased by a school district after Sept. 1, 2010. Charter buses used by school districts to transport students must be equipped with seat belts beginning Sept. 1, 2011.

The State Board of Education must develop a training program for all districts regarding proper use of the seat belts and serve as a clearinghouse for best practices in school bus safety.


State Rep. Mike Hamilton, R-Mauriceville, authored the House legislation. State Rep. Allan Ritter, D-Nederland, had written a similar bill that was incorporated into HB 323.

State Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, pushed the bill through the Senate. Lucio's own experience surviving a school bus crash as a child made his a staunch supporter of the legislation, and he joined the West Brook families for the bill signing on Friday.

The governor and the lawmakers thanked the team and their families for their efforts lobbying for the bill in Austin.

The mandate is expected to cost between $15 and $30 million, and Perry said he is committed to its funding.

The Beaumont Independent School Districts has already adopted the practice of using school buses equipped with seat belts.

HB 323 takes effect Sept. 1, 2007.