HF 499 (LSB 1775HV (2) 88)

HOUSE FILE 499

BY  COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR TO HF 136)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to passenger automobiles designed to carry ten or fewer persons when used as school buses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 321.1, subsection 69, paragraph d, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   d.  Designed to carry not more than nine ten persons as passengers, including the driver, either school owned or privately owned, which are used to transport pupils to activity events in which the pupils are participants or used to transport pupils to their homes in case of illness or other emergency situations. The vehicles operated under the provisions of this paragraph shall be operated by employees of the school district who are specifically approved by the local superintendent of schools for the assignment.
    Sec. 2.  Section 321.373, subsection 3, Code 2019, 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 ten or fewer pupils persons, including the driver, when 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.
   CURRENT IOWA LAW. Under current law, motor vehicles designed to carry not more than nine persons as passengers, either school owned or privately owned, are excluded from the definition of “school bus” under Code section 321.1, thereby excluding such vehicles from the duties and requirements relating to school buses set forth in Code chapter 321 (motor vehicles and law of the road). To qualify under the exclusion, a vehicle must be used to transport pupils to activity events in which the pupils are participants or used to transport pupils to their homes in case of illness or other emergency situations, and must be operated by an employee of the school district who is specifically approved by the local superintendent of schools for the assignment.
   Administrative rules of the department of education regulate type III vehicles 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.
   CURRENT FEDERAL LAW. School buses are subject to a variety of federal motor vehicle safety standards. Under federal law, a school bus is a passenger motor vehicle designed to carry a driver and more than 10 passengers that is used significantly to transport students to or from school or an event related to school.
   TRANSPORTATION OF 10 OR FEWER PERSONS. This bill excludes from the definition of “school bus” under Code section 321.1 motor vehicles designed to carry not more than 10 persons as passengers, including the driver. The bill requires the administrative rules to allow passenger automobiles designed to carry 10 or fewer persons, including the driver, to be used as school buses.