H.B. 45

1

SCHOOL BUS SAFETY
2 1999 GENERAL SESSION
3 STATE OF UTAH
4 Sponsor: Neal B. Hendrickson
5 AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC SAFETY; PROVIDING THAT A SCHOOL DISTRICT OR
6 A PRIVATE SCHOOL MAY PERFORM A SAFETY INSPECTION OF A SCHOOL BUS IN
7 ACCORDANCE WITH RULES MADE BY THE UTAH HIGHWAY PATROL DIVISION;
8 PROVIDING FOR AN AUDIT OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY OPERATIONS OF A DISTRICT
9 OR PRIVATE SCHOOL THAT PERFORMS A SCHOOL BUS SAFETY INSPECTION; AND
10 PROVIDING THAT VEHICLES WITH SAFETY DEFECTS MAY NOT BE OPERATED
11 UNTIL THE DEFECTS HAVE BEEN CORRECTED.
12 This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
13 AMENDS:
14 53-8-211, as renumbered and amended by Chapter 234, Laws of Utah 1993
15 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
16 Section 1. Section 53-8-211 is amended to read:
17 53-8-211. Safety inspection of school buses and other vehicles.
18 (1) (a) The Highway Patrol shall:
19 (i) perform safety [inspect] inspections at least twice each school year on all school buses
20 operated by [the] each school [districts] district and each private [schools of] school in the state
21 for the transportation of students, except as otherwise provided in Subsection (1)(b); and
22 (ii) cause to be removed from the public highways any vehicle found to have mechanical
23 or other defects under Subsection (1)(a) endangering the safety of passengers and the public until
24 the defects have been [remedied] corrected.
25 (b) (i) A school district or private school may perform h [ a ] THE h safety
25a h [ inspection ] INSPECTIONS h of a school bus
26 that it operates in accordance with rules made by the division under Title 63, Chapter 46a, Utah
27 Administrative Rule Making Act, and after consultation with the State Board of Education.

28 (ii) The rules under Subsection(b)(i) shall include provisions for:
29 (A) maintaining school bus drivers hours of service records;
30 (B) requiring school bus drivers to maintain vehicle condition reports;
31 (C) maintaining school bus maintenance and repair records; and
32 (D) validating that defects discovered during the inspection process have been corrected
33 prior to returning a school bus to service.
34 (iii) The division shall audit school bus safety operations of each school district and private
35 school performing inspections under Subsection (b)(i) to ensure compliance with the rules made
36 under that subsection.
37 (iv) A school district or private school may not operate any vehicle found to have
38 mechanical or other defects that would endanger the safety of passengers and the public until the
39 defects have been corrected.
40 (2) Motor vehicles operated by private schools or school districts, and not used for the
41 transportation of students, are subject to Section 53-8-205 .




Legislative Review Note
as of 12-17-98 4:03 PM

A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel