SB 247, as amended, Lara. Charter bus transportation: safety improvements.
The Passenger Charter-party Carriers’ Act imposes various requirements on charter-party carriers of passengers, and provides for the safety regulation of charter-party carriers of passengers engaged in charter bus transportation, as defined, by the Public Utilities Commission.
Under existing law, the Department of the California Highway Patrol is responsible for specified vehicle safety and equipment regulation. Unless otherwise specified, a violation of these vehicle safety and equipment provisions is an infraction.
This bill, in addition to the above-referenced act, would require a charter-party carrier of passengers engaged in charter bus transportation to ensure that the driver of a charter busbegin insert that is designed to
carry 39 or more passengersend insert provides oral and writtenbegin insert or videoend insert instructions to all passengers on the safety equipment and emergency exits on the vehicle prior to the beginning of anybegin delete trip and that the charter bus is equipped, by July 1, 2019, with specified safety equipment.end deletebegin insert trip.end insert The bill would also require those vehicles manufactured after July 1, 2020, to be equipped withbegin delete a secondary door for use as an additional emergency exit and other designated safety equipment.end deletebegin insert end insertbegin insertemergency
lighting fixtures that will turn on in the event of an impact or collision.end insert The bill would require the department tobegin delete adopt, no later than July 1, 2017,end deletebegin insert adoptend insert standards and criteria for the implementation of these equipment and safetybegin delete requirements.end deletebegin insert
requirementsend insertbegin insert no later than July 1, 2018.end insert The bill would also make related findings and declarations.
Because a violation of these provisions would be an infraction, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) The safety of passengers traveling in charter buses in
4California is of the utmost importance. According to the Federal
5Motor Carrier Safety Administration, between 1975 and 2013,
6there were over 11,000 fatal crashes involving charter buses,
7including 1,615 occupant fatalities. Improved safety standards and
8practices are necessary to better protect passengers in the event of
9a charter bus crash.
10(b) On April 10, 2014, in Orland, California, eight passengers
11traveling on a charter bus, along with the driver, were tragically
12killed
in a freeway collision. In a report released in 2015, the
13National Transportation Safety Board examined the crash and
P3 1made recommendations for safety improvements, including fire
2performance standards for interior materials, requiring pretrip
3safety briefings for passengers, improvements in vehicle design
4to facilitate evacuation, and the installation of event data recorder
5(EDR) technology for crash reconstruction and safety
6improvements.
7(c) These improvements would significantly increase passenger
8safety and would reduce or prevent future deaths in traffic
9collisions involving charter buses.
Article 3.6 (commencing with Section 27425) is added
11to Chapter 5 of Division 12 of the Vehicle Code, to read:
12
(a) A charter-party carrier of passengers engaged in
16charter bus transportation shall ensure that a vehicle as described
17in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 5363 of the Public
18Utilities Code is equipped with interior and exterior luminescent
19or retroreflective emergency signage by July 1, 2019.
20(b)
begin insert(a)end insert A vehiclebegin delete as specified in subdivision (a), begin insert
described in paragraph (1)
22manufactured on or after July 1, 2020end delete
23of subdivision (b) of Section 5363 of the Public Utilities Code that
24is designed to carry 39 or more passengers and that is
25manufactured on or after July 1, 2020,end insert shallbegin delete alsoend delete be equipped with
26
begin delete all of the following:end delete
27(1) A secondary door for use as an additional emergency exit.
end delete
28(2) Windows that can be easily opened and remain open during
29an emergency.
30begin delete(3)end deletebegin delete end deletebegin deleteEmergencyend deletebegin insert
emergencyend insert lighting fixtures that will turn on in
31the event of an impact or collision.
32(c)
end delete
33begin insert(b)end insert A vehicle as specified in subdivision (a) shall at all times
34meet applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS)
35issued by the United States Department of Transportation. This
36section shall not be construed to conflict with those standards.
begin deleteThe end deletebegin insertNo later than July 1, 2018, theend insert department shall
38begin delete adopt, no later than July 1, 2017,end deletebegin insert adoptend insert standards and criteria for
39the implementation of the safety equipment requirements specified
40in Section 27425.
This act does not alter or affect the requirements of the
2Passenger Charter-party Carriers’ Act (Chapter 8 (commencing
3with Section 5351) of Division 2 of the Public Utilities Code).
Section 34505.8 is added to the Vehicle Code, to read:
(a) A charter-party carrier of passengers engaged in
6charter bus transportation shall ensure that the driver of a vehicle
7as described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 5363
8of the Public Utilities Codebegin insert that is designed to carry 39 or more
9passengersend insert shall instructbegin insert or play a video forend insert all passengers on the
10safety equipment and emergency exits on the vehicle prior to the
11beginning of any trip and provide each passenger with writtenbegin insert or
12videoend insert instructions
that include, at a minimum, a demonstration of
13the location and operation of all exits, including emergency exits,
14and the importance of wearing a seatbelt, if available.
15(b) Notwithstanding any other law,begin insert no later than July 1, 2018,end insert
16 the department shallbegin delete adopt, no later than July 1, 2017,end deletebegin insert adoptend insert
17 standards and criteria for the implementation of the safety
18requirements specified in this section.
19(c) This section does not alter or affect the requirements of the
20Passenger Charter-party Carriers’ Act (Chapter 8 (commencing
21with
Section 5351) of Division 2 of the Public Utilities Code).
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
23Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
24the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
25district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
26infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
27for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of
28the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within
29the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
30Constitution.
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