STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
11330
IN ASSEMBLY
September 19, 2018
___________
Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Abinanti) --
read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the education law, in
relation to implementing combination lap safety and shoulder harness
seat safety belts and requiring students use safety belts on school
buses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 383 of the vehicle and traffic
2 law, as added by chapter 747 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 5. (a) Passenger seat safety belts for school buses. Every school bus,
5 as defined in section one hundred forty-two of this chapter, manufac-
6 tured for use in this state on and after July first, [nineteen hundred
7 eighty-seven] two thousand nineteen, shall be designed so that all
8 passenger seats on such vehicle are equipped with combination lap safety
9 and shoulder harness seat safety belts and increased seat back padding
10 on passenger seats of a type and specification as approved by the
11 commissioner of transportation through the adoption of rules and regu-
12 lations. Such rules and regulations shall provide that when any contact-
13 able surface of the school bus, as specified in the Federal Motor Vehi-
14 cle Safety Standard, 49 CFR Section 571.222, is impacted from any
15 direction at twenty-two feet per second by the head form, the axial
16 acceleration at the center of gravity of the head form shall be such
17 that the head form impact requirement shall not exceed eight hundred.
18 (b) Passenger combination lap safety and shoulder harness seat safety
19 belts for existing school buses. [Any] Every school bus, as defined in
20 section one hundred forty-two of this chapter, which is scheduled for
21 retrofitting pursuant to action by a board of education or board of
22 trustees under section thirty-six hundred thirty-five-a of the education
23 law not equipped with combination lap safety and shoulder harness seat
24 safety belts shall be retrofitted so that all passenger seats on such
25 vehicles are equipped with combination lap safety and shoulder harness
26 seat safety belts and additional padding of a type and specification as
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16097-01-8
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1 approved by the commissioner of transportation through the adoption of
2 rules and regulations. Such rules and regulations shall provide that
3 when any contactable surface of the school bus as specified in the
4 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, 49CFR Section 571.222 is impacted
5 from any direction at twenty-two feet per second by the head form, the
6 axial acceleration at the center of gravity of the head form shall be
7 such that the head form impact requirement shall not exceed eight
8 hundred. Furthermore, the commissioner shall have the power through
9 rules and regulations to exempt certain design school buses from retro-
10 fitting. In granting such exemptions, the commissioner shall consider
11 safety factors, structural integrity of the school buses and any other
12 items deemed necessary to preserve the safety and welfare of the school
13 bus passengers. Provided further, however, that the commissioner of
14 transportation shall not authorize retrofitting of any school bus manu-
15 factured prior to April first, [nineteen hundred seventy-seven] two
16 thousand nineteen.
17 § 2. Section 3635-a of the education law, as added by chapter 747 of
18 the laws of 1986 and subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 474 of the laws
19 of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
20 § 3635-a. Safety belt usage. [1. A board of education or board of
21 trustees may, in its discretion, following a public hearing for the
22 purpose of determining whether a resolution shall be adopted, provide
23 for the use of seat safety belts on such school buses, in accordance
24 with regulations and standards established by the commissioner under
25 subdivision one of section thirty-six hundred thirty-eight of this chap-
26 ter.
27 2. Such public hearing, conducted upon reasonable notice, shall be
28 held to consider: (a) whether the district shall install seat safety
29 belts on buses purchased and/or contracted for prior to the effective
30 date of this section and require their use; (b) when such installation
31 shall be provided, and (c) whether use of seat safety belts shall be
32 required on all school buses within the district so equipped after a
33 date to be determined by the board of education or board of trustees.
34 3. Such hearings shall consider the effect of seat safety belts
35 installation on the total number of students that can be transported on
36 such buses.
37 4. Within twenty days after the public hearing, the board of education
38 or board of trustees shall, by resolution, determine whether to require
39 installation and use of seat safety belts on some or all school buses.]
40 1. All students shall use safety belts while being transported on
41 school buses, in accordance with regulations and standards established
42 by the commissioner; provided, however, alternative accommodations shall
43 be made where a pupil with special needs is unable to utilize a safety
44 belt.
45 [5.] 2. This section shall apply only to vehicles owned or leased by
46 school districts and nonpublic schools, and to vehicles used to perform
47 contracts with such school districts and nonpublic schools for the
48 purpose of transporting school children for hire.
49 [6.] 3. Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose a duty
50 upon boards of education or boards of trustees to provide seat safety
51 belts on school buses purchased or contracted for prior to the effective
52 date of this section, nor shall any board of education or board of trus-
53 tees be held liable for failure to provide seat safety belts pursuant to
54 this section. A school board member or trustee shall have immunity from
55 any civil or criminal liability that might otherwise be incurred or
56 imposed as a result of the provisions of this section provided that such
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1 person shall have acted in good faith. For the purpose of any proceed-
2 ing, civil or criminal, the good faith of any such person shall be
3 presumed.
4 [7.] 4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to school
5 districts which are using safety belts on school buses or have installed
6 or have contracted for the installation of seat safety belts prior to
7 the effective date of this section.
8 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 1229-c of the vehicle
9 and traffic law, as amended by chapter 448 of the laws of 2015, is
10 amended to read as follows:
11 (a) "motor vehicle" shall include all motor vehicles which are
12 required by section three hundred eighty-three of this chapter or regu-
13 lation or would be required if such motor vehicle were registered in New
14 York state to be equipped [by a safety belt but shall not include] with
15 safety belts, including those vehicles which are used as school buses,
16 as such term is defined in section one hundred forty-two of this chapter
17 [and]; provided, however, that the term "motor vehicle" shall not
18 include those vehicles which are authorized emergency vehicles, as such
19 term is defined in section one hundred one of this chapter, provided,
20 however, that for purposes of this section, "motor vehicle" shall also
21 include fire vehicles owned and/or operated by a fire company as defined
22 by subdivision two of section one hundred of the general municipal law
23 and ambulances owned and/or operated by a voluntary ambulance service as
24 defined by subdivision three of section one hundred of the general
25 municipal law;
26 § 4. Subdivision 11 of section 1229-c of the vehicle and traffic law,
27 as added by chapter 653 of the laws of 1989 and as renumbered by chapter
28 104 of the laws of 1991, is amended and a new subdivision 11-a is added
29 to read as follows:
30 11. [Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision four of this
31 section, no] No person shall operate a school bus unless such person is
32 reasonably sure that all passengers under the age of four are restrained
33 in a specially designed detachable or removable seat as required by
34 subdivision one of this section, or another restraining device approved
35 by the commissioner.
36 11-a. No person shall operate a school bus equipped with seat safety
37 belts pursuant to subdivision five of section three hundred eighty-three
38 of this chapter or pursuant to section thirty-six hundred thirty-five-a
39 of the education law unless such person is reasonably sure that all
40 passengers are restrained by a seat safety belt, provided that the term
41 "passenger" shall not include school bus attendants or any other person
42 acting in a supervisory capacity for purposes of this section. Further-
43 more, in any action for personal injuries by a passenger on a school
44 bus, the provisions of subdivision four of section thirty-eight hundred
45 thirteen of the education law shall apply.
46 § 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019. Effective immediately,
47 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
48 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
49 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.