BILL NUMBER: S9143

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
every school bus to be equipped with a stop-arm on each side

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To enhance vehicle safety by requiring that all school buses in New York
State contain a stop-arm on each side of the bus

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of this bill amends subdivision 21-c of section 375 of the
Vehicle and Traffic law to require that all school buses, regardless of
seating capacity, driven uon the public highways of this state be
equipped with a functioning stop-arm on each side.

Section two sets the effective date.

              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

School buses in New York State, which can range from 20 to 45 feet in
length, generally have bigger blind spots, require longer to stop, and
need more room to maneuver than other passenger vehicles. The NYS
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) issues special guidance for what
drives should do when they encounter a school bus, advising them slow
down, come to a complete stop at least 20 feet away from the bus, and be
especially careful to look out for children walking in front of, behind,
or on the side of the bus. Under section 375 of the Vehicle and Traffic
Law, all school buses in the state are required to be equipped with a
driver's side stop-arm to help drivers comply with these instructions.

The legislature has given special consideration to the harm caused by
motorists who do not follow this guidance, creating graduated fines for
the crime of illegally passing a stopped school bus up to $1,000 for a
third conviction within three years. Additionally, five points are added
to a driver's record for each conviction of such offense, and in 2019,
the legislature authorized school districts and municipalities to use
stop-arm cameras to photograph and impose penalties on the owners of
vehicles which illegally pass a school bus.

Despite these extraordinary measures, the trend of illegal passing has
persisted, with an estimated 50,000 motorists illegally passing a school
bus statewide each school day, according to survey data from the New
York Association for Pupil Transportation and Governor's Traffic Safety
Committee. The Department of Pupil Transportation at the NYS Education
Department, meanwhile, states that the youngest children are most at
risk of being harmed by this reckless behavior, as they are involved in
68% of school bus fatalities despite representing less than 35% of the
student population.

This bill would help prevent the likelihood of collisions with school-
children and other pedestrians on and around a school bus by mandating
that all buses transporting pupils, regardless of seating capacity, be
equipped with a stop-arm on each side. Two-sided stop-arms make common
sense as drivers on both sides of the street need to come to a complete
stop to allow passengers to discharge.  Modernizing our state's Vehicle
and Traffic Law with this commonsense measure will help reduce the inci-
dence and severity of crashes involving school buses while ensuring that
New York's school transportation fleet is properly incorporating
advances in vehicle safety design.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

TBD

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth da after which
it shall have become a law.