Bill Text: IA SF2324 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act allowing certain vans and pickups to be used as school buses. (Formerly SSB 3186.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-03-22 - Placed on calendar under unfinished business. H.J. 671. [SF2324 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-SF2324-Introduced.html

Senate File 2324 - Introduced




                                 SENATE FILE       
                                 BY  COMMITTEE ON
                                     TRANSPORTATION

                                 (SUCCESSOR TO SSB
                                     3186)

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act allowing pickups to be used as school buses.
  2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 321.373, subsection 3, Code 2018, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    3.  The rules prescribed for school buses shall include
  1  4 special rules for passenger automobiles, and other vehicles
  1  5 designed to carry eight or fewer pupils, when used as school
  1  6 buses.  The rules shall allow pickups designed to carry nine
  1  7 passengers or less, including the driver, and weighing ten
  1  8 thousand pounds or less, to be used as school buses.
  1  9                           EXPLANATION
  1 10 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  1 11 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  1 12    Currently, rules of the department of education permit
  1 13 type III vehicles to be used as school buses. Under 281 IAC
  1 14 44.2(5), type III vehicles are not regular school buses but
  1 15 are used to transport students in a school=related context and
  1 16 may be marked as a school bus. A type III vehicle is a van
  1 17 or passenger car, including a minivan, sport utility vehicle,
  1 18 or station wagon. The difference between a family automobile
  1 19 and an equivalent type III vehicle is not the vehicle itself,
  1 20 but rather its use, as type III vehicles are used by schools
  1 21 for purposes of student transportation. To qualify as a type
  1 22 III vehicle, the vehicle must carry a maximum of nine or fewer
  1 23 people, including the driver, and weigh 10,000 pounds or less.
  1 24 Under 281 IAC 44.5(1), vehicles classified as pickups are not
  1 25 allowed to be used for student transportation.
  1 26    This bill requires such rules to allow pickups designed
  1 27 to carry nine passengers or less, including the driver, and
  1 28 weighing ten thousand pounds or less, to be used as school
  1 29 buses. Under Code section 321.1, a pickup is any motor vehicle
  1 30 designed to carry merchandise or freight of any kind, not to
  1 31 exceed 2,000 pounds.
  1 32    Under current law, any person who operates or allows
  1 33 the operation of any vehicle as a school bus which does
  1 34 not comply with the requirements provided by law or by the
  1 35 rules and regulations of the department of education, or
  2  1 for which there is not a valid temporary certificate for
  2  2 operation, is guilty of a simple misdemeanor (Code section
  2  3 285.14). The department of education is required to review
  2  4 all transportation arrangements when deemed necessary, to
  2  5 disapprove any arrangements that are not in conformity with the
  2  6 law and established standards, and to require the arrangements
  2  7 to be altered or changed so that they do conform with the law
  2  8 and established standards (Code section 285.8).
  2  9    Under current law, all type III vehicles are prohibited from
  2 10 carrying more passengers than there are seat belts as installed
  2 11 by the manufacturer (281 IAC 44.5(1)(d)). In addition, trailer
  2 12 hitches are allowed on type III vehicles in accordance with
  2 13 the manufacturer's rated towing capacity, but students are not
  2 14 allowed to be transported in the vehicle when the vehicle is
  2 15 being used to tow (281 IAC 44.5(2)(j)). School bus drivers
  2 16 must be at least 18 years of age on or before August 1 preceding
  2 17 the opening of the school year for which a school bus driver's
  2 18 authorization is required (281 IAC 43.14).
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