Bill Text: NY S04939 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Implements combination lap safety and shoulder harness seat safety belts; requires students use safety belts on school buses.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION [S04939 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S04939-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4939 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE April 1, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CARLUCCI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed 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 hundred7eighty-seven] two thousand twenty, shall be designed so that all passen- 8 ger seats on such vehicle are equipped with combination lap safety and 9 shoulder harness seat safety belts and increased seat back padding on 10 passenger seats of a type and specification as approved by the commis- 11 sioner of transportation through the adoption of rules and regulations. 12 Such rules and regulations shall provide that when any contactable 13 surface of the school bus, as specified in the Federal Motor Vehicle 14 Safety Standard, 49 CFR Section 571.222, is impacted from any direction 15 at twenty-two feet per second by the head form, the axial acceleration 16 at the center of gravity of the head form shall be such that the head 17 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 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05259-01-9S. 4939 2 1 safety belts shall be retrofitted so that all passenger seats on such 2 vehicles are equipped with combination lap safety and shoulder harness 3 seat safety belts and additional padding of a type and specification as 4 approved by the commissioner of transportation through the adoption of 5 rules and regulations. Such rules and regulations shall provide that 6 when any contactable surface of the school bus as specified in the 7 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, 49CFR Section 571.222 is impacted 8 from any direction at twenty-two feet per second by the head form, the 9 axial acceleration at the center of gravity of the head form shall be 10 such that the head form impact requirement shall not exceed eight 11 hundred. Furthermore, the commissioner shall have the power through 12 rules and regulations to exempt certain design school buses from retro- 13 fitting. In granting such exemptions, the commissioner shall consider 14 safety factors, structural integrity of the school buses and any other 15 items deemed necessary to preserve the safety and welfare of the school 16 bus passengers. Provided further, however, that the commissioner of 17 transportation shall not authorize retrofitting of any school bus manu- 18 factured prior to April first, [nineteen hundred seventy-seven] two 19 thousand twenty. 20 § 2. Section 3635-a of the education law, as added by chapter 747 of 21 the laws of 1986 and subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 474 of the laws 22 of 1996, is amended to read as follows: 23 § 3635-a. Safety belt usage. [1. A board of education or board of24trustees may, in its discretion, following a public hearing for the25purpose of determining whether a resolution shall be adopted, provide26for the use of seat safety belts on such school buses, in accordance27with regulations and standards established by the commissioner under28subdivision one of section thirty-six hundred thirty-eight of this chap-29ter.302. Such public hearing, conducted upon reasonable notice, shall be31held to consider: (a) whether the district shall install seat safety32belts on buses purchased and/or contracted for prior to the effective33date of this section and require their use; (b) when such installation34shall be provided, and (c) whether use of seat safety belts shall be35required on all school buses within the district so equipped after a36date to be determined by the board of education or board of trustees.373. Such hearings shall consider the effect of seat safety belts38installation on the total number of students that can be transported on39such buses.404. Within twenty days after the public hearing, the board of education41or board of trustees shall, by resolution, determine whether to require42installation and use of seat safety belts on some or all school buses.] 43 1. All students shall use safety belts while being transported on 44 school buses, in accordance with regulations and standards established 45 by the commissioner; provided, however, alternative accommodations shall 46 be made where a pupil with special needs is unable to utilize a safety 47 belt. 48 [5.] 2. This section shall apply only to vehicles owned or leased by 49 school districts and nonpublic schools, and to vehicles used to perform 50 contracts with such school districts and nonpublic schools for the 51 purpose of transporting school children for hire. 52 [6.] 3. Nothing in this section shall be construed to impose a duty 53 upon boards of education or boards of trustees to provide seat safety 54 belts on school buses purchased or contracted for prior to the effective 55 date of this section, nor shall any board of education or board of trus- 56 tees be held liable for failure to provide seat safety belts pursuant toS. 4939 3 1 this section. A school board member or trustee shall have immunity from 2 any civil or criminal liability that might otherwise be incurred or 3 imposed as a result of the provisions of this section provided that such 4 person shall have acted in good faith. For the purpose of any proceed- 5 ing, civil or criminal, the good faith of any such person shall be 6 presumed. 7 [7.] 4. The provisions of this section shall not apply to school 8 districts which are using safety belts on school buses or have installed 9 or have contracted for the installation of seat safety belts prior to 10 the effective date of this section. 11 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 1229-c of the vehicle 12 and traffic law, as amended by chapter 448 of the laws of 2015, is 13 amended to read as follows: 14 (a) "motor vehicle" shall include all motor vehicles which are 15 required by section three hundred eighty-three of this chapter or regu- 16 lation or would be required if such motor vehicle were registered in New 17 York state to be equipped [by a safety belt but shall not include] with 18 safety belts, including those vehicles which are used as school buses, 19 as such term is defined in section one hundred forty-two of this chapter 20 [and]; provided, however, that the term "motor vehicle" shall not 21 include those vehicles which are authorized emergency vehicles, as such 22 term is defined in section one hundred one of this chapter, provided, 23 however, that for purposes of this section, "motor vehicle" shall also 24 include fire vehicles owned and/or operated by a fire company as defined 25 by subdivision two of section one hundred of the general municipal law 26 and ambulances owned and/or operated by a voluntary ambulance service as 27 defined by subdivision three of section one hundred of the general 28 municipal law; 29 § 4. Subdivision 11 of section 1229-c of the vehicle and traffic law, 30 as added by chapter 653 of the laws of 1989 and as renumbered by chapter 31 104 of the laws of 1991, is amended and a new subdivision 11-a is added 32 to read as follows: 33 11. [Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision four of this34section, no] No person shall operate a school bus unless such person is 35 reasonably sure that all passengers under the age of four are restrained 36 in a specially designed detachable or removable seat as required by 37 subdivision one of this section, or another restraining device approved 38 by the commissioner. 39 11-a. No person shall operate a school bus equipped with seat safety 40 belts pursuant to subdivision five of section three hundred eighty-three 41 of this chapter or pursuant to section thirty-six hundred thirty-five-a 42 of the education law unless such person is reasonably sure that all 43 passengers are restrained by a seat safety belt, provided that the term 44 "passenger" shall not include school bus attendants or any other person 45 acting in a supervisory capacity for purposes of this section. Further- 46 more, in any action for personal injuries by a passenger on a school 47 bus, the provisions of subdivision four of section thirty-eight hundred 48 thirteen of the education law shall apply. 49 § 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020. Effective immediately, 50 the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces- 51 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 52 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
