Bill Text: IA SSB3186 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act allowing pickups to be used as school buses.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (N/A - Dead) 2018-02-13 - Subcommittee Meeting: 02/14/2018 9:30AM 217 Conference room off Senate offices [SSB3186 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-SSB3186-Introduced.html
Senate Study Bill 3186 - Introduced SENATE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION BILL BY CHAIRPERSON KAPUCIAN) A BILL FOR An Act allowing pickups to be used as school buses. 1 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 2 TLSB 5527XC (3) 87 ns/rh
S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 321.373, subsection 3, Code 2018, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 3. The rules prescribed for school buses shall include 3 special rules for passenger automobiles, and other vehicles 4 designed to carry eight or fewer pupils, when used as school 5 buses. The rules shall allow pickups designed to carry nine 6 passengers or less, including the driver, and weighing ten 7 thousand pounds or less, to be used as school buses. 8 EXPLANATION 9 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 10 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 11 Currently, rules of the department of education permit 12 type III vehicles to be used as school buses. Under 281 IAC 13 44.2(5), type III vehicles are not regular school buses but 14 are used to transport students in a school-related context and 15 may be marked as a school bus. A type III vehicle is a van 16 or passenger car, including a minivan, sport utility vehicle, 17 or station wagon. The difference between a family automobile 18 and an equivalent type III vehicle is not the vehicle itself, 19 but rather its use, as type III vehicles are used by schools 20 for purposes of student transportation. To qualify as a type 21 III vehicle, the vehicle must carry a maximum of nine or fewer 22 people, including the driver, and weigh 10,000 pounds or less. 23 Under 281 IAC 44.5(1), vehicles classified as pickups are not 24 allowed to be used for student transportation. 25 This bill requires such rules to allow pickups designed 26 to carry nine passengers or less, including the driver, and 27 weighing ten thousand pounds or less, to be used as school 28 buses. Under Code section 321.1, a pickup is any motor vehicle 29 designed to carry merchandise or freight of any kind, not to 30 exceed 2,000 pounds. 31 Under current law, any person who operates or allows 32 the operation of any vehicle as a school bus which does 33 not comply with the requirements provided by law or by the 34 rules and regulations of the department of education, or 35 -1- LSB 5527XC (3) 87 ns/rh 1/ 2
S.F. _____ for which there is not a valid temporary certificate for 1 operation, is guilty of a simple misdemeanor (Code section 2 285.14). The department of education is required to review 3 all transportation arrangements when deemed necessary, to 4 disapprove any arrangements that are not in conformity with the 5 law and established standards, and to require the arrangements 6 to be altered or changed so that they do conform with the law 7 and established standards (Code section 285.8). 8 Under current law, all type III vehicles are prohibited from 9 carrying more passengers than there are seat belts as installed 10 by the manufacturer (281 IAC 44.5(1)(d)). In addition, trailer 11 hitches are allowed on type III vehicles in accordance with 12 the manufacturer’s rated towing capacity, but students are not 13 allowed to be transported in the vehicle when the vehicle is 14 being used to tow (281 IAC 44.5(2)(j)). School bus drivers 15 must be at least 18 years of age on or before August 1 preceding 16 the opening of the school year for which a school bus driver’s 17 authorization is required (281 IAC 43.14). 18 -2- LSB 5527XC (3) 87 ns/rh 2/ 2
feedback