Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires school bus safety instruction in all school districts which provide pupil transportation.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning school bus safety and supplementing chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Every board of education which provides for the transportation of pupils pursuant to N.J.S.18A:39-1 shall include information on school bus safety as part of the curriculum in health, safety and physical education for all elementary and secondary public school pupils. The school bus safety information shall be presented to the pupils at least twice in each school year, and shall include information on potential hazards and proper procedures and safety precautions to be taken by pupils while entering, leaving and riding on the school bus. The information shall include specific instruction on the safety benefits of wearing a seat belt while on a school bus and the legal responsibility of each passenger on a school bus to wear a seat belt.
b. The State Department of Education shall prepare curriculum guidelines which shall be used by all local school boards in fulfilling this requirement.
c. Two years after the implementation of the educational requirements provided for in this section, the State Department of Education shall review the effectiveness of the program in increasing seat belt use on school buses.
2. This act shall take effect on September 1 next following enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill requires all boards of education that transport pupils to provide instruction on school bus safety to all pupils at least twice a year. The instruction is to be included in the school's' health, safety and physical education program, and is to include information on potential hazards and proper procedures and safety precautions to be taken by pupils while entering, leaving and riding on the school bus. The school bus safety information shall also include specific instruction on the benefits of wearing a seat belt while riding a school bus and the legal duty to wear a seat belt while riding on a school bus. The bill also requires the State Department of Education to review the effectiveness of this program in increasing seat belt use on school buses two years after implementation.