Stop for School Buses Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1994 To require the Secretary of Transportation to review laws relating to the illegal passing of schoolbuses, execute a public safety messaging campaign related to illegal passing of schoolbuses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 17, 2021 Mrs. WALORSKI (for herself, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. LONG, Mr. KATKO, Mr. KIND, Mr. NEGUSE, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, and Mr. SIRES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned A BILL To require the Secretary of Transportation to review laws relating to the illegal passing of schoolbuses, execute a public safety messaging campaign related to illegal passing of schoolbuses, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop for School Buses 4 Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1994.IH H1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1994 IH SEC. 2. ILLEGAL PASSING OF SCHOOLBUSES. 1 (a) REVIEW OF ILLEGAL PASSING LAWS.— 2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 4 Transportation shall— 5 (A) prepare a compilation of illegal passing 6 laws in all States, including levels of enforce- 7 ment and penalties and enforcement issues with 8 such laws and the impact of such laws on illegal 9 passing of schoolbuses in each State; 10 (B) review existing State laws that may in- 11 hibit effective schoolbus loading zone counter- 12 measures, which may include laws requiring 13 camera visibility of a driver’s face for enforce- 14 ment action, laws that may reduce stop-arm 15 camera effectiveness, the need for an officer to 16 witness the event for enforcement, and the lack 17 of primary enforcement for texting and driving; 18 (C) evaluate methods used by States to re- 19 view, document, and report to law enforcement 20 schoolbus stop-arm violations; and 21 (D) following the completion of the com- 22 pilation, issue recommendations on best prac- 23 tices on the most effective approaches to ad- 24 dress illegal passing of schoolbuses. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1994.IH H1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1994 IH (2) PUBLICATION.—The compilation and rec- 1 ommendations prepared under paragraph (1) shall 2 be made publicly available on the website of the De- 3 partment of Transportation. 4 (b) PUBLIC SAFETY MESSAGING CAMPAIGN.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 6 the date on which the Secretary makes the compila- 7 tion and recommendations under subsection (a)(2) 8 publicly available, the Secretary shall create and exe- 9 cute a public safety messaging campaign for dis- 10 tribution to States, divisions of motor vehicles, 11 schools, and other public outlets to highlight the 12 dangers of the illegal passing of schoolbuses, and 13 should include educating students and the public on 14 safe loading and unloading of schoolbuses. 15 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall con- 16 sult with public and private schoolbus industry rep- 17 resentatives and States in developing the campaign 18 materials. 19 (3) UPDATE.—The Secretary shall periodically 20 update such materials. 21 (c) REVIEW OF TECHNOLOGIES.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 24 shall review and evaluate the effectiveness of various 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1994.IH H1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1994 IH technologies to enhance schoolbus safety, including 1 cameras, audible warning systems, enhanced light- 2 ing, and other technological solutions. 3 (2) CONTENT.—The review under paragraph 4 (1)— 5 (A) shall include an evaluation of the costs 6 of new equipment and the potential impact on 7 overall schoolbus ridership; 8 (B) shall include an evaluation of advanced 9 technologies surrounding loading zone safety; 10 (C) shall include an evaluation of motion- 11 activated detection systems that are capable 12 of— 13 (i) detecting pedestrians, bicyclists, 14 and other road users located near the exte- 15 rior of the schoolbus; and 16 (ii) alerting the operator of the school- 17 bus of the road users described in clause 18 (i); 19 (D) shall include an evaluation of school- 20 bus lighting systems, to ensure clear commu- 21 nication to surrounding drivers on their appro- 22 priate action; and 23 (E) may include other technological solu- 24 tions that enhance schoolbus safety. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1994.IH H1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1994 IH (3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall con- 1 sult with manufacturers of schoolbus vehicles, manu- 2 facturers of various technologies, and school bus in- 3 dustry representatives in conducting the review 4 under paragraph (1). 5 (4) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 6 the findings of the review under paragraph (1) pub- 7 licly available on the website of the Department. 8 (d) REVIEW OF DRIVER EDUCATION MATERIALS.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 10 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 11 shall— 12 (A) review driver education materials 13 across all States to determine whether and how 14 illegal passing of schoolbuses is addressed in 15 driver education materials, manuals, non-com- 16 mercial driver’s license testing, and road tests; 17 and 18 (B) make recommendations on how States 19 can improve education about illegal passing of 20 schoolbuses, particularly with new drivers. 21 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall con- 22 sult with schoolbus industry representatives, States, 23 motor vehicle administrators, and other appropriate 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1994.IH H1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1994 IH motor vehicle experts in the preparation of the re- 1 view under paragraph (1). 2 (3) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 3 the findings of the review under paragraph (1) pub- 4 licly available on the website of the Department. 5 (e) REVIEW OF OTHER SAFETY ISSUES.— 6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 8 shall— 9 (A) research the connections between ille- 10 gal passing of schoolbuses and other safety 11 issues, including distracted driving, morning 12 darkness, poor visibility, illumination and reach 13 of vehicle headlights, speed limits, and school- 14 bus stop locations in rural areas; and 15 (B) create a report containing the findings. 16 (2) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall make 17 the report created under paragraph (1)(B) publicly 18 available on the website of the Department. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:48 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1994.IH H1994 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS