SENATE, No. 58

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

 

 

By Senator O’CONNOR

 

 

An Act concerning certain school buses and amending P.L.1983, c.206.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. Section 1 of P.L.1983, c.206 (C.39:3B-5.1) is amended to read as follows:

    1. a. School buses, under the jurisdiction of the public schools and manufactured prior to April 1, 1977, other than those of the transit type whose gross vehicle weight (G.V.W.) exceeds 25,000 pounds, shall not be used for pupil transportation purposes beyond the end of the tenth year from the date of manufacture, as noted on the vehicle registration, or at the end of the school year in which that date falls, whichever is later. School buses manufactured on or after April 1, 1977, other than those of the transit type whose gross vehicle weight (G.V.W.) exceeds 25,000 pounds, shall not be used for pupil transportation purposes beyond the end of the twelfth year from the date of manufacture, as noted on the vehicle registration, or at the end of the school year in which that date falls, whichever is later.

    b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section, a school district may use a school bus manufactured on or after April 1, 1977, other than those of the transit type whose gross vehicle weight (G.V.W.) exceeds 25,000 pounds, for pupil transportation purposes beyond the end of the twelfth year from the date of its manufacture, if that school bus passes the in-depth inspection the Division of Motor Vehicles, pursuant to section 3 of P.L. 1983, c.206 (C.39:3B-5.3), is required to perform annually prior to the beginning of the school year on school buses which have been used for more than 10 years for pupil transportation purposes.

(cf: P.L. 1983, c.206, s.1)


    2. This act shall take effect immediately

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    Current law prohibits school districts from using certain types of school buses for pupil transportation purposes for more than 12 years from their date of manufacture.

    This bill would permit school districts to use school buses which were manufactured after April 1, 1977 for pupil transportation purposes for more than 12 years from the date of their manufacture provided they annually pass an in-depth safety inspection by the Division of Motor Vehicle. The division is currently required to conduct such in-depth safety inspections on school buses that have been used for pupil transportation purposes for more than 10 years.

    The provisions of this bill do not apply to transit type school buses which have gross vehicle weights of more than 25,000 pounds.

 

 

 

Permits use of certain school buses for more than 12 years for pupil transportation purposes.