Posted: | April 14, 2021 12:51 PM |
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From: | Representative Nick Pisciottano |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Prohibiting the Following of School Buses too Closely |
School age children ride a school bus twice a day, every weekday, to and from school. During the 2018-2019 school year, 1,517,989 students were transported by a school bus on a daily basis. In 2019, 301 accidents involved a school bus. Although accidents, even those including school buses, are inevitable, it is nevertheless a disheartening tragedy. Current law requires drivers to stop at least ten feet before reaching a school bus when the red signal lights and side stop arm of the bus are activated. However, there is no provision requiring motorists to maintain a similar distance while a school bus is in motion. In 2019, 158 school buses involved in a two-vehicle accident were struck by the other vehicle. That is over half of all the accidents that involved a school bus that year. Now is the time to ensure our students are safe when they are on a school bus. For this reason, I am introducing legislation that will prohibit vehicles from following a school bus closer than 10 feet and will require all school buses manufactured after 2021 to display an exterior label stating, “At all times stay back a minimum of 10 feet. It is the law.” Please join me in showing our students and their families that we care about their safety and are committed to minimizing the number of accidents that involve school buses |
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View Attachment |
Introduced as HB1311