SF 2324 (LSB 5527SV (1) 87)

SENATE FILE 2324

BY  COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

(SUCCESSOR TO SSB 3186)

A BILL FOR

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

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