According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, at least four children die every year in large school bus crashes. They say if kids were buckled up that number could be cut in half.

One transportation expert here in Lafayette says not so fast.

“I think it is safer to have seat belts on the bus especially in crashes. There’s pros and cons on both sides. If we have any kind of fire, fire hazard or fire emergency or water emergency it’s going to be very detrimental,” Damon Evans, the Transportation Director for Lafayette Parish Schools, told KLFY’s Kellie Brown.

As of now, only 6 states are required to have seat belts on school buses.

Louisiana is one of them– but there’s a loophole.

“You do it only if it’s financially feasible for your particular parish to do so,” Evans said.

Most school buses that currently have seat belts have what’s called a lap belt.

NHTSA wants every child strapped into a 3 point shoulder belt while riding the school bus.

“It’s attached to three different points in a car that actually keeps them and it works with the braking system when they hit the brakes it locks them into place,” Evans explained.

The next big issue is cost. Each school bus seat would have to be retrofitted to put seat belts in them, according to Evans, “It’s in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars. I would say a minimum minimal cost it will be half $1 million for the parish and maximum it would be $750,000.”

“Yes it will be expensive, but I think in the long run it’ll pay for itself in the lives that it protects,” resident Betty Tullier said.

“I went to school with no seat belts and I’m just fine,” another Lafayette resident, William Massey, told KLFY.

Evans explained once seat belts are placed on a bus, students must always wear them and it’s the bus drivers responsibility to make sure they are.

Which would force the school system to hire attendants to ride on every bus.

As of now, the only buses with seat belts here in Lafayette Parish are special needs buses.