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Minutes for HB2040 - Committee on Transportation
Short Title
Substitute for HB 2040 by Committee on Transportation - Increasing the penalties for subsequent violations of traffic regulations prohibiting the improper passing of school buses.
Minutes Content for Tue, Mar 13, 2018
Chairperson Petersen opened the hearing on this bill. Scott Wells, Revisor's Office, gave a briefing. He said this bill would increase the penalties for subsequent violations for improperly passing a school bus. The current fine is $315. The bill specifies a $750 fine for a second violation if within five years, and $1,000 for a third violation.
Jill Shelley, Kansas Legislative Research Department, provided a handout (Attachment 1) on penalties imposed by neighboring states. They range from $100 to $1,000 and some ten days to one year of imprisonment (either fine or imprisonment, or both fine and imprisonment).
Representative Ron Highland gave proponent testimony (Attachment 2). He noted he has been working on getting this bill passed for four years. This matter was brought to to his attention by Frank Clark, Transportation Director for USD 378, Riley County. Representative Highland said he witnessed a car passing a stopped school bus with its stop sign extended and lights flashing. School transportation directors have emphasized the need for stricter enforcement and penalties to protect children who are loading or unloading from a bus. Originally, the bill would have authorized cameras placed at the front and back of the bus for monitoring, but that section was removed from the bill. The provision for increased fines remains.
Senator Hardy asked about cameras being removed from the bill, and Representative Highland said this related to the cost of maintaining and storing the evidence for delivering the citation, and now only a law enforcement officer can issue a citation after the officer witnesses the violation. Persons driving around a school bus probably don't know what the fine is, and the increased fine will get their attending, said Representative Highland.
Senator Hawk asked if a school bus driver can write down the license number and make a citizen's arrest. Representative Highland said it would be difficult to prove who was driving, and a law enforcement officer is the only person that can make the arrest.
Frank Clark, Transportation Director for USD 378, Riley County Schools, provided proponent testimony (Attachment 3). He is also Vice President for the Kansas Transportation Association and indicated there has been a lot of discussion for many years. He said he became interested in this issue nine years ago when a middle school student was nearly hit by a car that ran the bus stop sign while she was leaving the bus. That is when it was determined there is nothing a bus driver could do about these violations. His testimony indicated a national 2017 survey on school bus stop arm passing incidents in 26 states found nearly 77,972 vehicles illegally passed 104,468 school buses in just one day. School transportation directors feel enforcement of the current bus stop sign law needs to be strengthened.
Senator Schmidt commented that this bill concerns school children getting on and off the bus. She said she worked to get a bill passed to prohibit cell phone usage in a school zone to protect children.
Senator Fitzgerald asked about the cost of the camera. Mr. Clark indicated it costs about $3,000, if the bus has the right wiring (available in buses built since 2011), and the special education bus in Manhattan was a pilot program to see if the camera did what was intended. It did meet expectations. He noted other states allow cooperative agreements to split fines with the camera company to meet costs. Mr Clark said, yes, it is a local control issue on how the school spends its money.
Ed Klumpp, Legislative Liaison, Kansas Sheriffs Association, Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, and Kansas Peace Officers Association, provided proponent testimony (Attachment 4). He said this bill provides a good strategy for enhancing penalties of repeat offenders regarding passing of stopped school buses. The camera on bus section of the proposed bill was removed due to problems with the video enforcement provision. He noted video enforcement of any kind is controversial. Mr. Klumpp said some states allow citing of the owner of the vehicle rather than the driver, and all of this takes an enormous amount of investigation time.
In response to a question from Senator Hardy, Mr. Klumpp said there would be a contract with the camera company and some of the revenue from the tickets would be needed to pay the camera company.
Written-only proponent testimony was furnished by Eric Smith, Deputy General Counsel, The League of Kansas Municipalities (Attachment 5) and Lieutenant Adam Winters, Kansas Highway Patrol (Attachment 6).
There was no opponent or neutral testimony.
The hearing was closed.
