SF 222 (LSB 1759XS (5) 88)

SENATE FILE 222

BY  MATHIS

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to penalties for drivers of motor vehicles who pass, or fail to reduce speed or stop for, school buses, and including effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.372, subsection 5, paragraph b, subparagraph (1), Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  For a first offense under subsection 3, the person is guilty of a simple misdemeanor punishable by a fine of at least two hundred fifty dollars but not more than six hundred seventy-five dollars or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or by both.  The department shall require the person to attend and successfully complete, at the person’s own expense, a driver improvement program approved by the department in lieu of driver’s license suspension for the offense pursuant to section 321.210.
    Sec. 2.  DRIVER IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM FOR A FIRST SCHOOL BUS SAFETY OFFENSE.  Notwithstanding 2012 Iowa Acts, chapter 1015, section 5, subsection 2, by July 1, 2019, the department of transportation shall initiate rulemaking to amend 761 IAC 615.43 to require a person who is convicted of a first offense of section 321.372, subsection 3, to attend and successfully complete, at the person’s own expense, a driver improvement program approved by the department in lieu of driver’s license suspension, subject to all other provisions of 761 IAC 615.43.
    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  The following, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment:
   The section of this Act requiring the department of transportation to initiate rulemaking.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under current law, the driver of a vehicle, when meeting a school bus with flashing amber warning lamps, is required to reduce the vehicle’s speed to not more than 20 miles per hour, and to bring the vehicle to a complete stop when the school bus stops and the stop signal arm is extended. The vehicle must remain stopped until the stop signal arm is retracted, after which time the driver may proceed with due caution. The driver of a vehicle overtaking a school bus is prohibited from passing a school bus when red or amber warning signal lights are flashing. The driver is required to bring the vehicle to a complete stop no closer than 15 feet from the school bus when it is stopped and the stop arm is extended, and the vehicle is required to remain stopped until the stop arm is retracted and the school bus resumes motion. 
   A first offense of these provisions is a simple misdemeanor punishable by a fine of at least $250 but not more than $675 or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both. A second or subsequent offense is a serious misdemeanor punishable by confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least $315 but not more than $1,875. Under Code section 321.482A, a violation causing serious injury is punishable by an additional fine of $500 or suspension of the violator’s driver’s license for not more than 90 days, or both, and a violation causing death is punishable by an additional fine of $1,000 or suspension of the violator’s driver’s license for not more than 180 days, or both.
   In 2012, the general assembly required the department of transportation (DOT) to, by administrative rule, classify an offense under these provisions as a serious violation. Serious violations are subject to driver’s license suspension under Code section 321.210.
   This bill strikes the term of imprisonment for a first offense. The bill specifies that the DOT must require the person to attend and successfully complete, at the person’s own expense, a driver improvement program approved by the DOT in lieu of driver’s license suspension under Code section 321.210.
   The bill provides that the DOT must initiate rulemaking to require persons convicted of a first school bus safety offense to participate in a driver improvement program in lieu of driver’s license suspension. This provision of the bill takes effect upon enactment.