Bill Text: CA AB692 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Schoolbuses: passenger restraint systems.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-09-01 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB692 Detail]
Download: California-2017-AB692-Amended.html
Amended
IN
Assembly
April 17, 2017 |
Amended
IN
Assembly
March 23, 2017 |
Assembly Bill | No. 692 |
Introduced by Assembly Member Chu |
February 15, 2017 |
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
This bill would instead require all schoolbuses purchased or leased for use in California to be equipped with a passenger restraint system at all designated seating positions on or before January 1, 2020. The bill would require the State Department of Education, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, and any other appropriate entities to form a task force to develop a plan to oversee and ensure compliance with the January 1, 2020, target date for the passenger safety restraint requirement. The bill would also
require the governing board of a school district and any other appropriate entities to utilize specified existing programs for which it is eligible to incentivize and ensure their compliance with the January 1, 2020, target date for the passenger safety restraint requirement. By changing the definition of a crime and imposing additional duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
(a)(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(a)Unless specifically prohibited by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, all schoolbuses purchased or leased for use in California shall be equipped at all designated seating positions with a combination pelvic and upper torso passenger restraint system on or before January 1, 2020, if the
schoolbus is either of the following:
(1)Type 1, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 1201 of Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations.
(2)Type 2, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 1201 of Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations.
(b)For purposes of this section, a “passenger restraint system” means either of the following:
(1)A restraint system that is in compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 209, for a type 2 seatbelt assembly, and with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 210, as those standards were in effect on the date the schoolbus was manufactured.
(2)A restraint
system certified by the schoolbus manufacturer that is in compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 222 and incorporates a type 2 lap/shoulder restraint system.
(c)Schools may choose to do either of the following in order to comply with the January 1, 2020, target date for the passenger safety restraint requirement specified in subdivision (a):
(1)Retrofit schoolbuses already in their fleet with passenger restraint systems at all designated seating positions.
(2)Purchase new schoolbuses that are
equipped with passenger restraint systems at all designated seating positions.
(d)The State Department of Education, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, and any other appropriate entities shall form a task force to develop a plan to oversee and ensure compliance with the January 1, 2020, target date for the passenger safety restraint requirement specified in subdivision (a).
(e)The governing board of a school district and any other appropriate entities shall utilize existing programs for which it is eligible to incentivize and ensure their compliance with the January 1, 2020, target date for the passenger safety restraint requirement specified in subdivision (a), including, but not limited to, both of the following:
(1)The State Air Resources Board’s Lower-Emission School Bus Program.
(2)The Department of the California Highway Patrol’s School Bus Program.
(f) A person, school district, or organization, with respect to a schoolbus equipped with passenger restraint systems pursuant to this section, shall not be charged for a
violation of this code or a regulation adopted thereunder requiring a passenger to use a passenger restraint system, if a passenger on the schoolbus fails to use or improperly uses the passenger restraint system.
(g)It is the intent of the Legislature, in implementing this section, that school pupil transportation providers work to prioritize the allocation of
schoolbuses
purchased, leased, or contracted for that are equipped with passenger restraint systems to ensure that elementary level schoolbus passengers receive first priority for new schoolbuses whenever feasible.