SENATE BILL REPORT

SB 5308

BYSenators Patterson, Conner, Garrett, Bailey, Gaspard, Johnson, Vognild and Warnke

Establishing safety standards for new school buses.

Senate Committee on Transportation

Senate Hearing Date(s):February 24, 1987

Senate Staff:Cathy Mayo (786-7304)

AS OF FEBRUARY 24, 1987

BACKGROUND:

In 1976 Congress enacted legislation to require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to set standards to upgrade school bus construction.  The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS-222) "School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection" became effective April 1, 1977.  The regulation sets the standards for the size, construction and padding of the bus seats, as well as seat spacing to reduce the chance of injury to the occupant.  The driver is required to use an approved safety belt.  The safety of the passengers is provided through the compartmentalized design of the bus.  Compartmentalization, as outlined in the standard, requires strength in the entire seating system including the floor, the seat frame, the fastening of the frames to the floor, and providing seat system padding and flexibility to absorb energy in the event of a collision.

Seatbelts are required in school minibuses and vans under 10,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight, based upon the premise that these vehicles are similar in design and crash patterns to automobiles while the large Type I buses are not.

There are currently 6,295 school buses in use for the transportation of public school pupils in Washington State.

SUMMARY:

Every school bus manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1988, and used to transport students for a school district shall be equipped with a lap-type safety belt assembly for each passenger seating position.

Regardless of age, every person riding in a school bus equipped with safety belts shall wear the safety belt assembly in a properly adjusted and securely fastened manner.

School bus drivers or other persons in charge of the student passengers are exempt from any liability for use or nonuse of the safety belts by student passengers.

A school bus manufactured or assembled after January 1, 1988, weighing more than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight and used to transport students for a school district shall be equipped with: (1) at least one roof escape hatch; and (2) passenger seats with a seat back padded on both sides that has a front surface area above the horizontal plane that passes through the seating reference point, and below the horizontal plane 28 inches above the seating reference point, of not less than 90 percent of the seat bench width in inches multiplied by 28.

Schools using buses equipped with safety belts shall instruct the students on proper safety belt usage at least three times each academic year.

Fiscal Note:      requested