How new bills from Indiana’s Senate and House of Representatives Hope to Make Kids Safer from School Bus Crashes
Last October’s Halloween Eve was a very sad day for all Hoosiers as we learned of the tragic school bus crash in Fulton County, Indiana, where three young children were killed while boarding their school bus.
Nine year old Alivia Stahl and her 6-year-old twin brothers Xzavier and Mason Ingle all died in that school bus accident, hit by a pick-up truck as they were crossing North Indiana State Road 25. For details on this tragedy read, “Deadly Indiana School Bus Crash: Driver Charged with Reckless Homicide.”
For this family to lose three elementary school children in one fatal blow that day was a tragedy felt across the state. Its impact was felt at the Indiana General Assembly.
Proposed New Indiana School Bus Laws
In the 2019 legislative session, both State Senator Randy Head and State Representative Jim Pressel are proposing new laws to fight against future fatal school bus accidents in Indiana.
Both the parents and grandparents of Alivia, Xzavier, and Mason are actively promoting the passing of this new legislation as a tribute to their lost loved ones. See, e.g., “Lawmakers eye tougher distracted driving penalties following fatal school bus crash,” written by Dan Carden and Carley Lanich and published by the NWI Times on January 10, 2019.
These two bills (Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 1340) are not the same. They approach the issue of increasing school bus safety from two different perspectives.
1. Senate Bill 2
According to the Indiana General Assembly site, Senator Head authored this bill, with State Senators Eric Bassler and James Merritt as co-authors.
If passed, Indiana Senate Bill 2 will become effective law in the State of Indiana on July 1, 2019.
It focuses upon school bus drivers’ activities; heavier criminal penalties; and an increased involvement by the powers-that-be in protecting school buses and school bus routes.
This will not be a brand new law. Once passed into law, it will amend (change) an existing statute, IC 9-21-8-52, Section 364. From the school bus safety bill as introduced by Senator Head (read the full 8 page text here) come the following details:
Requirements for School Bus Drivers Loading and Unloading School Children
The new law will require school bus drivers in the loading or unloading of children to do the following, according to where the school bus is being driven:
(1) if driving on a U.S. route or state route, the driver may not load or unload a student at a location that requires the student to cross a roadway unless no other safe alternatives are available; and
(2) if driving on a street or highway other than a U.S. route or state route, the driver shall load and unload a student as close to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway as practicable.
Heavier Criminal Punishments for Drivers on the Road with School Buses
The new law increases the criminal punishments for drivers who fail to respect school bus safety measures, regardless of whether or not any accident is involved.
- Criminal Punishments Increase: Higher Misdemeanors or Felony Charges
It will increase the criminal penalty to a Class C Misdemeanor for an individual who fails to stop when a school bus’s stop arm is extended.
It will increase the criminal penalty to a Class A Misdemeanor for an individual who recklessly passes a school bus when its stop arm is extended.
It will increase the criminal penalty to a Level 6 Felony for an individual who recklessly passes a school bus when its stop arm is extended if the action results in injury.
- Loss of Drivers’ License
It will require the court to suspend the person’s driving privileges: (1) for 90 days (3 months); or (2) if the person has committed at least one previous school bus arm offense, for one year (12 months) for an individual who fails to stop when a school bus’s stop arm is extended.
It will mandate that the court suspend the driving privileges of a person who recklessly passes a school bus when its stop arm is extended: (1) for 90 days (3 months); or (2) if the person has committed at least one previous school bus arm offense, for one year (12 months).
Anyone who has their driver’s license suspended under these new provisions will not be able to get specialized driving privileges.
- Criminal Fines Increase
It will impose a fine of not more than $20,000 if an individual is convicted of recklessly passing a school bus causing bodily injury to a person.
Mandatory Review of School Bus Routes and Policies
By a deadline of September 1, 2019 (and each September 1 thereafter) both school bus routes and school bus safety policies must be reviewed “to improve the safety of students and adults.”
Authorities to Publish Online School Bus Safety Guidelines and Best Practices
At the state level, the state school bus committee, in consultation with the Indiana Department of Education and with the Indiana Department of Transportation, will be required to develop and post a web site of school bus safety guidelines or best practices.
This online information will include the steps needed for either an individual or a school to petition the authorities to lower the maximum speed limits on school bus routes to ensure that students are safely loaded onto or unloaded from a school bus.
2. House Bill 1340
According to the Indiana General Assembly site, State Representative Pressel authored this bill, with State Representatives Edmond Soliday and Donna Schaibley as co-authors.
If passed, Indiana House of Representatives Bill 1340 will become effective law in the State of Indiana on July 1, 2019.
Its focus is upon automated traffic cameras and actions of school bus drivers.
This will not be a brand new law. Once passed into law, it will amend (change) several existing statutes, including IC 9-13-2; IC 9-19-13-1; IC 9-21;IC 16-41-42.2-4; IC 33-37; and IC 34-28-5-5.
House Bill 1340 considers various aspects of motor vehicle safety in the State of Indiana, such as the use of cell phones while driving. However, specific to school bus safety are the following provisions:
Automatic Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices (Cameras, etc.)
The House bill looks to technology to help keep school bus riders safe. Considering automated traffic cameras, it:
- Restricts use of an automated traffic enforcement safety device by certain governmental entities to detection or recording of several things, allowing their use in recording a failure to comply with school bus stop arm regulations.
- Provides that certain governmental entities may enter into agreements with third parties to administer camera enforcement of school bus stop arm regulations, subject to certain conditions.
- Provides for a rebuttable presumption that the owner of a vehicle is the person operating the vehicle at the time the vehicle is photographed violating a regulation enforced by camera enforcement.
Civil Penalties for Violation of School Bus Stop Arm Law
The House bill sets aside 25% of any civil penalty collected for a violation of a school bus stop arm violation that is enforced by camera enforcement.
This is to be deposited in the school operations fund of the school corporation in which the violation occurred and used for funding school bus arm signal device cameras.
Requirements for School Bus Drivers Loading and Unloading School Children
The House bill also focuses on school bus drivers. If passed into law, it states:
- Indiana school bus driver will not be allowed to pick up or drop off a student at a location that requires the student to cross either: (A) a state highway; (B) a county arterial highway; or (C) a municipal arterial street.
- Indiana school bus drivers will be required to pick up and drop off students as close as is practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of any other type of roadway.
- If a school bus driver knowingly or intentionally violates either of these pick up/drop off provisions, he has committed a criminal violation, deemed to be a Class D infraction.
- If the school bus driver fails to conduct a required inspection for students or passengers remaining on a school bus at the end of a trip, this will also be a criminal act, deemed to be a Class D infraction.
New School Bus Safety Proposals and Indiana Personal Injury Law
It is hoped that the legislation is finalized and effective in July 2019 to make our roadways safer for all schoolchildren riding an Indiana School Bus.
For more on school bus safety and bus crashes, read:
- School Bus Safety: Protecting Our Schoolchildren in Indiana and Illinois
- School Bus Accidents Kill and Injure Children: Should There Be More Safety Requirements for Kids in School Buses?
- Four Serious Bus Crashes in the News This Week: How Dangerous is it for You or Your Kids to Ride on a Bus?
In our next post, we will consider how these proposed laws work with personal injury and wrongful death claims to make our streets safer for our kids. Please be careful out there!
