INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS: TOP STORY
TRY, TRY AGAIN
FEDERAL SCHOOL BUS SAFETY OMNIBUS BILL TARGETS ILLEGAL PASSERS, PEDESTRIAN DETECTION SYSTEMS LAP/SHOULDER BELTS AND MORE
WRITTEN BY RYAN GRAY
£ Rep. Bruce Braley of Iowa is seeking sweeping reform of school bus safety with new legislation. But is it the right approach?
school bus safety was announced. Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) is revisiting the topic of illegal passers, among other issues, with his new “School Bus Safety Act.” Braley called it “the most comprehensive
T
overhaul of the nation’s school bus safe- ty system in over 15 years.” It focuses on nationalizing school bus stop laws, providing grants for detection systems to reduce the number of students struck by their own buses in the “danger zone,” driver background checks as well as lap/shoulder belts on all buses, new and already in use. Braley first attempted a national law on
illegal passing with his 2012 “Kadyn’s Act,” named after a 7-year-old Iowa girl who was killed while crossing the street to her school bus. Braley’s new plan not only seeks to bring all states in compliance with Iowa’s own enforcement law but also would require NHTSA to study the effectiveness of current technology to get motorists to stop for school buses. Te proposal mentions additional front and rear stop arms, driver alert devices and second warning signs and aides that improve the “general visibility of buses.” “NAPT supports efforts to provide incen-
tive funds to field test promising safety tech- nology,” said Executive Director Mike Martin. “Tere is a great deal of it out there now, and federal funds would make it easier to test those that address problem areas specific to their realities. In that vein, we favor the ‘carrot’ approach so local school districts can evaluate
14 School Transportation News June 2014
he student transportation indus- try was caught a bit off guard last month when a plan for a far-reaching federal “overhaul” of
technology and report their conclusions.” Te new legislation also seeks to reduce the number of students killed by their own school bus. Te U.S. Department of Trans- portation would provide state grants to equip school buses with motion-activated detection systems using radio or radar waves to alert drivers via an audible tone to the presence of a pedestrian anywhere around the bus “danger zone” prior to pulling away from a stop. States would also be required to submit a report to the Department of Transportation on the effectiveness of the motion detec- tors, including whether or not the systems prevented children from being hit by a school bus and a cost analysis of the systems. Braley’s legislation would require all states to perform background checks on school bus drivers. While many states already have requirements in place for fingerprinting new driver applicants, for example, he pointed out that Iowa enacted its law in 2012. And some states are still operating without this requirement. States would be required to implement standards similar to Iowa or lose 10 percent of their federal highway safety funds. Te U.S. Department of Transportation
would also be directed to create a “School Bus Seat Belt Demonstration Program” to allow states to apply for funding to purchase new school buses with lap/shoulder seat belts or to retrofit buses with the three-point restraints. NSTA Executive Director Ronna Weber said the organization looks forward to work- ing with Braley on the legislation. However, Martin suggested that a better approach for many of these provisions would
be to allow states to apply for safety grants, test the technology under the operation circumstances of each state and then report the findings. “More broadly, we believe individual states should decide what, if any, enforce- ment sanctions are appropriate based on individual state circumstances rather than a one-size-fits-all federal mandate.” Martin also voiced concern about Braley’s attempt to squeeze so many provisions into one bill, a practice he said many members of Congress frown upon. “It has become commonplace for legis- lators to combine separate if not disparate measures into an omnibus bill in order to create a package more attractive than its component parts. It’s a way to enhance the odds that something unpopular or controver- sial will be approved along with something that is a common consensus,” he explained. “I hope that’s not the strategy in play here.” While the legislation is rife with concerns
for the industry, said NASDPTS Execu- tive Director Bob Riley, at the very least it signals that school bus safety has risen to the forefront of national discourse. “Certainly it’s indicative that the industry,
including the three associations and ASBC, is being successful in our efforts to make the public aware of the value of the school bus and concerns in the school bus industry,” said Bob Riley, who retires at the end of the month. “Te things (Braley) describes, people wouldn’t have brought up or cared about three years ago. We’re much more of a conversation piece than we were five years ago. I think that’s positive.” l
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