PRINTER'S NO. 331
No. 300 Session of 1975
INTRODUCED BY PETRARCA, MANDERINO, STOUT, KOLTER,
A. K. HUTCHINSON, PRENDERGAST, SCHMITT, WILSON, SHUMAN AND
LAUDADIO, FEBRUARY 10, 1975
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, FEBRUARY 10, 1975
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of April 29, 1959 (P.L.58, No.32), entitled "An
2 act consolidating and revising the Vehicle Code, the Tractor
3 Code, the Motor Vehicle Financial Responsibility Act and
4 other acts relating to the ownership, possession and use of
5 vehicles and tractors," further providing for emergency exits
6 and seats in school buses.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Clauses (4) and (6) of subsection (b) of section
10 840, act of April 29, 1959 (P.L.58, No.32), known as "The
11 Vehicle Code," clause (6) amended July 7, 1967 (P.L.170, No.46),
12 penalty clause amended December 9, 1969 (P.L.343, No.149), are
13 amended to read:
14 Section 840. School Buses; Safety Requirements.--
15 * * *
16 (b) No person shall own or operate a school bus carrying
17 school children on the highways of this Commonwealth that, in
18 addition to the other requirements of this act, does not conform
19 with the following:
1 * * *
2 (4) There shall be [an] three (3) emergency exit [door]
3 doors in the rear on the roof or on the left side near the rear
4 of the vehicle, equipped with an emergency lock operated from
5 the inside of the vehicle, which may be quickly released, and
6 which shall be protected against accidental release. The
7 emergency exit [door] doors shall open outwards, and shall be at
8 least twenty (20) inches wide, and shall be labeled in black
9 letters at least three (3) inches high on both the outside and
10 inside "Emergency Door." At least one (1) of the emergency exit
11 doors shall be on the roof of the bus.
12 * * *
13 (6) There shall be at least thirteen (13) inches of seating
14 space provided for each school child carried. And there shall be
15 a measurement of at least twelve (12) inches from the front of
16 every seat to the back of the seat next to the rear. All seats
17 shall have either spring cushions with well padded back rests or
18 shall be of fiberglass reinforced plastic and shall be securely
19 fastened to the bus. The back rests of the seats shall be at
20 least twenty-eight (28) inches in height. There shall be no
21 longitudinal seats opposite to and facing each other within a
22 distance of eighteen (18) inches, and in all new buses purchased
23 after September 1, 1939, there shall be no longitudinal seats.
24 * * *
25 Penalty.--Any person violating any of the provisions of this
26 section or standards or regulations promulgated hereunder shall,
27 upon summary conviction before a magistrate, be sentenced to pay
28 a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) and not more than
29 twenty-five dollars ($25.00) and costs of prosecution, and, in
30 default of the payment thereof, shall undergo imprisonment for
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1 not less than five (5) days and not more than ten (10) days.
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