ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 4223
(By Delegates Klempa, Hutchins, Schoen, Ferro, Hamilton,
Ennis, Brown, Varner, Ellem, Pethtel and Caputo)
[Passed March 13, 2010; in effect ninety days from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §17C-12-7 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating generally to increasing the safety
of school children that use school buses; increasing the
penalties for overtaking and passing a school bus stopped for
the purpose of receiving and discharging children; authorizing
the mounting of cameras on school buses; and requesting an
educational information campaign on school bus safety.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §17C-12-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12. SPECIAL STOPS REQUIRED.
§17C-12-7. Overtaking and passing school bus; penalties; signs
and warning lights upon buses; requirements for
sale of buses; mounting of cameras; educational
information campaign; limitation on idling.
(a) The driver of a vehicle, upon meeting or overtaking from
either direction any school bus which has stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging any school children, shall stop the
vehicle before reaching the school bus when there is in operation
on the school bus flashing warning signal lights, as referred to in
section eight of this article, and the driver may not proceed until
the school bus resumes motion, or is signaled by the school bus
driver to proceed or the visual signals are no longer actuated.
This section applies wherever the school bus is receiving or
discharging children including, but not limited to, any street,
highway, parking lot, private road or driveway: Provided, That the
driver of a vehicle upon a controlled access highway need not stop
upon meeting or passing a school bus which is on a different
roadway or adjacent to the highway and where pedestrians are not
permitted to cross the roadway.
(b) Any driver acting in violation of subsection (a) of this
section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction for a first
offense, shall be fined not less than $150 or more than $500, or
confined in jail not more than six months, or both fined and
confined. Upon conviction of a second violation of subsection (a),
the driver shall be fined $500, or confined in jail not more than
six months, or both fined and confined. Upon conviction of a third
or subsequent violation of subsection (a), the driver shall be
fined $500, and confined not less than twenty-four hours in jail
but not more than six months.
(c) In addition to the penalties prescribed in subsections (b)
of this section, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles shall, upon
conviction, suspend the driver's license of the person so convicted:
(1) Of a first offense under subsection (b) of this section,
for a period of thirty days;
(2) Of a second offense under subsection (b) of this section,
for a period of ninety days; or
(3) Of a third or subsequent offense under subsection (b) of
this section, for a period of one hundred and eighty days.
(d) Any driver of a vehicle who willfully violates the
provisions of subsection (a) of this section and the violation
causes serious bodily injury to any person other than the driver,
is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be confined in a
state correctional facility not less than one year nor more than
three years and fined not less than $500 nor more than $2,000.
(e) Any driver of a vehicle who willfully violates the
provisions of subsection (a) of this section, and the violation
causes death, is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be
confined in a state correctional facility not less than one year
nor more than ten years and fined not less than $1,000 nor more
than $3,000.
(f) Every bus used for the transportation of school children
shall bear upon the front and rear of the bus a plainly visible
sign containing the words "school bus" in letters not less than
eight inches in height. When a contract school bus is being
operated upon a highway for purposes other than the actual
transportation of children either to or from school, all markings
on the contract school bus indicating "school bus" shall be covered or concealed. Any school bus sold or transferred to another owner
by a county board of education, agency or individual shall have all
flashing warning lights disconnected and all lettering removed or
permanently obscured, except when sold or transferred for the
transportation of school children.
(g) Every county board of education is hereby authorized to
mount a camera on any school bus for the purpose of enforcing this
section or for any other lawful purpose.
(h) To the extent that state, federal or other funds are
available, the State Police shall conduct an information campaign
to educate drivers concerning the provisions of this section and
the importance of school bus safety.
(i)
The State Board of Education shall promulgate a rule in
accordance with the provisions of article three-b, chapter twenty-
nine-a of this code governing the idling of school buses.