Section 1 of the bill allows automated vehicle identification systems (AVIS) to be installed on school buses in partnership with local government entities and school districts, with the goal of enhancing enforcement against drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses. Here's a breakdown:
Key Provisions:
Installation and Use of AVIS:
The state, county, city and county, or municipality may install and use AVIS on school buses if approved by the school district's board of education.
The AVIS will detect violations where a driver overtakes a stopped school bus with its visual signal lights actuated.
Civil Penalties:
If an AVIS detects a violation, a civil penalty of up to $300 can be imposed on the violating driver.
Rebuttable presumption: If the AVIS captures an image that shows the school bus's visual signal lights as actuated, it is presumed that the lights were indeed activated and operational at the time of the violation.
Restrictions on the Use of Collected Fines:
Fines collected through the AVIS system cannot be used to pay the AVIS manufacturer or vendor.
Any compensation to the manufacturer or vendor must not be based solely on the number of citations issued or revenue generated from the AVIS system.
Section 2:
Highway Definition Update:
The definition of a "highway with separate roadways" is amended to include roadways separated by physical barriers, but exclude roadways separated only by a painted median.
This change clarifies when a driver is required to stop for a school bus, ensuring that roadways divided by physical barriers do not require stopping when passing a school bus.
This bill aims to improve safety around school buses by using technology to enforce laws against passing a stopped bus.
It also prevents financial incentives that could encourage excessive fines or abuses of the AVIS system by prohibiting compensation tied to revenue from violations.
Summary
Section 1 of the bill permits the state, a county, a city and county,
or a municipality to, with approval from a school district's board of education, install and utilize automated vehicle identification systems (AVIS) on the school district's school buses to detect a driver of a vehicle that overtakes a stopped school bus with actuated visual signal lights in violation of current law. If an AVIS detects such a violation, the state, a county, a city and county, or a municipality may impose a civil penalty of not more than $300 for the violation. The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that when an image produced by an AVIS includes an electronic indicator signifying that a school bus's visual signal lights are actuated, the visual signal lights are presumed to be actuated and operational.
The bill mandates that the state, a county, a city and county, or a
municipality that installs an AVIS on a school bus shall not use the fines collected through the use of the AVIS system to compensate the AVIS manufacturer or vendor and that any such compensation paid to the manufacturer or vendor must not be based exclusively upon the number of citations issued or revenue generated by the AVIS.
Current law states that a driver on a highway with separate
roadways need not stop upon meeting or passing a school bus that is on a different roadway. Section 2 amends the definition of highway with separate roadways to include a roadway separated by physical barriers and to exclude a roadway separated by a painted median.
