Senate Bill 1038
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1038
By Senators Cowin, Grant, Lee, Myers, Holzendorf,
Dawson-White, Horne, Forman and Silver
11-489-99
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to school buses; requiring that
3 buses purchased after a specified date and used
4 in transporting certain students be equipped
5 with safety belts or other restraints that
6 comply with specified standards and with seats
7 having a specified height; providing an
8 exemption for certain school buses; requiring
9 passengers to wear safety belts or other
10 restraints; providing immunity of a school
11 district, bus operator, and others for injuries
12 to a passenger caused solely because the
13 passenger was not wearing a safety belt or
14 other restraint; providing immunity to such
15 persons for injury caused by a passenger's
16 dangerous or unsafe use of a safety belt or
17 other restraint; providing certain provisions
18 for implementation; providing an effective
19 date.
20
21 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23 Section 1. (1)(a) Each school bus that is purchased
24 after December 31, 2000, and used to transport students in
25 grades pre-K through 12 must be equipped with:
26 1. Safety belts, or with any other restraint system
27 approved by the Federal Government, in a number sufficient to
28 allow each student who is being transported to use a separate
29 safety belt or restraint system. If safety belts are used,
30 they must meet the standards required under section 316.614,
31 Florida Statutes.
1
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1038
11-489-99
1 2. Seats having backs that measure at least 28 inches
2 from the plane on which the passenger sits to the top of the
3 seat.
4 (b) A school bus that was purchased before December
5 31, 2000, is not required to be equipped with safety belts or
6 a federally approved restraint system or with 28-inch-high
7 seat backs, and neither the state nor a school district shall
8 be liable for personal injury to a passenger on such a school
9 bus which is caused by the passenger's failure to wear a
10 safety belt or restraint system.
11 (2) Each passenger on a school bus that is equipped
12 with safety belts or a federally approved restraint system
13 shall wear a properly adjusted and fastened safety belt or
14 restraint system at all times while the bus is in operation.
15 (3) A school district, school bus operator under
16 contract with a school district, or an agent or employee of a
17 school district or operator, including a teacher or volunteer
18 serving as a chaperone is not liable in an action for personal
19 injury by a school bus passenger solely because the injured
20 party was not wearing a safety belt or restraint system.
21 (4) A school district, school bus operator under
22 contract with a school district, or an agent or employee of a
23 school district or operator, including a teacher or volunteer
24 serving as a chaperone is not liable in an action for personal
25 injury by a school bus passenger for an injury caused by
26 another passenger's use of a safety belt or federally approved
27 restraint system in a dangerous or unsafe manner.
28 (5) In implementing this section, each school district
29 must prioritize the allocation of buses equipped with safety
30 belts or other federally approved restraint systems and with
31
2
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 1999 SB 1038
11-489-99
1 28-inch-high seats, to ensure that elementary schools within
2 the district receive first priority.
3 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
4 law.
5
6 *****************************************
7 SENATE SUMMARY
8 Requires school buses that are purchased after December
31, 2000, to be equipped with safety belts or other
9 federally approved restraint systems and with seats
having backs that are at least 28 inches in height,
10 measured from the seating plane. Provides an exemption
for school buses purchased before that date. Requires
11 passengers to wear the safety belts or other restraint
systems. Provides immunity to a school district, bus
12 operator, and others for injuries to a passenger which
are caused solely because the passenger was not wearing a
13 safety belt or other restraint system. Provides immunity
to such persons for a passenger's dangerous or unsafe use
14 of a safety belt or other restraint system. Requires
school districts to give first priority to elementary
15 schools in using school buses equipped with such safety
equipment.
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
3