Bill Text: HI SCR23 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii Senate Concurrent Resolution 23 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: School Buses; Seat Belt Assemblies

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-02-11 - Referred to TRE/EDU, WAM. [SCR23 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-SCR23-Introduced.html

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	23
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO EQUIP ALL SCHOOL BUSES PURCHASED, LEASED, OR CONTRACTED FOR USE BY THE STATE WITH SEAT BELT ASSEMBLIES AT ALL DESIGNATED SEATING POSITIONS.

WHEREAS, federal and state laws require certain motor vehicle drivers and passengers to use seat belts because seat belts provide a measure of protection during accidents; and

WHEREAS, passenger cars, light trucks, and vans are required under federal law to have seat belts at all designated seating positions; and

WHEREAS, neither federal nor State law requires seat belts on school buses that have a gross vehicle weight rating of more than ten thousand pounds, which is the standard weight of a large school bus; and

WHEREAS, tour buses are equipped with seat belts or seat assemblies, however, the Department of Education does not contract with tour bus companies to transport school children; and

WHEREAS, section 286-181(d) and (e), Hawaii Revised Statutes, allows vehicles other than school vehicles for the transport of students requiring special education and services and allows small buses for the transport of students to day care centers, child care facilities, headstart programs, preschools, and other school-related activities; and

WHEREAS, despite increased federal standards for school bus passenger safety and crash protection, there are still thousands of injuries to children throughout the country each year due to school bus accidents, causing children to suffer minor and serious injuries to their heads, necks, backs, and stomachs when striking the roof, windows, seat backs, and other school bus passengers during crashes; and

WHEREAS, a 1989 comprehensive, in-depth study by the Transportation Research Board found that the inclusion of seat belts on compartmentalized school buses provides additional crash protection; and

WHEREAS, crash test and case study data indicate that seat belts provide improved crash protection and are especially beneficial in side-impact and rollover school bus accidents; and

WHEREAS, seat belts also reduce other types of injuries by restraining children who may otherwise be out of their seats, which improves passenger behavior and reduces distractions to school bus drivers; and

WHEREAS, seat belts provide other important benefits, such as educating children about seat belt use and reinforcing seat belt use in motor vehicles; and

WHEREAS, states can require and equip school buses to meet a higher safety standard than established under federal law; and

WHEREAS, California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, and Texas require all large school buses to be equipped with seatbelts; and

WHEREAS, there is no dispute that seat belts save lives and that the safety of all school children riding school buses should be of paramount concern and importance to the Department of Education; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is urged to equip all school buses purchased, leased, or contracted for use by the State with seat belt assemblies at all designated seating positions by July 1, 2018; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education report to the Legislature:

(1) No later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2018, on its progress in equipping all school buses purchased, leased, or contracted for use by the State with seat belt assemblies at all designated seating positions, including an explanation of the costs of procuring buses equipped with seat belt assemblies, or in lieu thereof the costs of retrofitting existing buses, as well as information concerning the percentage that retrofitted buses comprise of the total fleet of buses and the school districts using those buses; and

(2) No later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2019, a final report on equipping all school buses purchased, leased, or contracted for use by the State with seat belt assemblies at all designated seating positions, including a count of the number of small and large buses so equipped and the percentage that equipped buses comprise of the total fleet of buses and the school districts using those equipped buses; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chair of the Board of Education and Superintendent of Education.