PRIOR PRINTER'S NOS. 11, 1059 PRINTER'S NO. 1076
No. 11 Session of 1983
INTRODUCED BY HOLL AND KRATZER, JANUARY 12, 1983
AS AMENDED ON THIRD CONSIDERATION, JUNE 29, 1983
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
2 Statutes, requiring school buses to stop at all railroad
3 crossings; and permitting local authorities to designate and
4 use roads for nonvehicular purposes.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Section 3342 of Title 75 of the Pennsylvania
8 Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
9 § 3342. Vehicles required to stop at railroad crossings.
10 (a) General rule.--Except as provided in subsection [(b)]
11 (c), the driver of any vehicle described in regulations issued
12 pursuant to subsection [(c)] (d), before crossing at grade any
13 track or tracks of a railroad, shall stop the vehicle within 50
14 feet but not less than 15 feet from the nearest rail of the
15 railroad and while so stopped shall listen and look in both
16 directions along the track for any approaching train, and for
17 signals indicating the approach of a train, and shall not
18 proceed until it can be done safely. After stopping and upon
1 proceeding when it is safe to do so the driver of the vehicle
2 shall cross only in such gear of the vehicle that there will be
3 no necessity for manually changing gears while traversing the
4 crossing and the driver shall not manually shift gears while
5 crossing the track or tracks.
6 (b) School buses.--Notwithstanding the provisions of
7 PARAGRAPHS (2), (3) AND (4) OF subsection (c), the drivers of <--
8 school buses shall stop before crossing any railroad grade
9 crossing or track or tracks of a railroad.
10 [(b)] (c) Exceptions.--This section does not apply at any of
11 the following:
12 (1) Any railroad grade crossing at which traffic is
13 controlled by a police officer or flagman.
14 (2) Any railroad grade crossing at which traffic is
15 regulated by a traffic-control signal.
16 (3) Any railroad grade crossing protected by crossing
17 gates or an alternately flashing light signal intended to
18 give warning of the approach of a railroad train.
19 (4) Any railroad grade crossing at which an official
20 traffic-control device gives notice that the stopping
21 requirement imposed by this section does not apply.
22 [(c)] (d) Regulations defining vehicles subject to
23 section.--The department shall adopt such regulations as may be
24 necessary describing the vehicles which must comply with the
25 stopping requirements of this section. In formulating the
26 regulations, the department shall give consideration to the
27 hazardous nature of any substance carried by the vehicle as
28 determined by the Hazardous Substances Transportation Board and
29 to the number of passengers carried by the vehicle in
30 determining whether the vehicle shall be required to stop. These
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1 regulations shall be developed in conjunction with the
2 Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the Urban Mass
3 Transportation Authority and shall correlate with and so far as
4 possible conform to the current regulations of the United States
5 Department of Transportation.
6 Section 2. Section 6109 of Title 75 is amended by adding a
7 subsection to read:
8 § 6109. Specific powers of department and local authorities.
9 * * *
10 (g) Play highways.--Local authorities may designate any
11 highway or any part of a highway under their jurisdiction a
12 "play highway," and may close such designated highway to general
13 traffic where interference to traffic will not be serious. Such
14 highways or portions of highways shall be used for play purposes
15 and shall be clearly designated by appropriate signs, specifying
16 the hours between which such highways shall be closed to general
17 traffic.
18 Section 3. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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