118 HR 3998 IH: Jackie Walorski Enhancing Necessary Data on Illegal School Bus Passing Act
U.S. House of Representatives
2023-06-09
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I
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3998
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 9, 2023
Mr. Yakym (for himself and Ms. Brownley) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To establish a program to monitor and gather data on incidents of illegal passing of stopped school buses, develop a national public safety messaging campaign, training materials, and model legislation to reduce such incidents, and for other purposes.
1.

Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Jackie Walorski Enhancing Necessary Data on Illegal School Bus Passing Act”.
2.

Program on illegal passing incidents
(a)

In general
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shall establish a program to provide grants to eligible entities to carry out a demonstration project to monitor and collect data on incidents of illegal passing of stopped school buses.
(b)

Applications
Upon the establishment of the program under subsection (a), the Administrator shall solicit applications, in such form and requiring such information as the Administrator determines is appropriate, from eligible entities to participate in the program.
(c)

Selection
(1)

In general
Not later than 180 days after the deadline for submitting applications under subsection (b), as determined by the Administrator, the Administrator shall provide grants to not more than 12 eligible entities to carry out a demonstration project under the program established under this section.
(2)

Criteria
In selecting eligible entities to receive a grant under this section, the Administrator shall—
(A)
select entities located in—
(i)
urban, rural, and suburban communities; and
(ii)
geographic areas that account for varying weather patterns;
(B)
ensure that a range of socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds are represented across the selected entities;
(C)
select at least 1 entity that has publicly operated school bus fleets;
(D)
select at least 1 entity that has privately operated school bus fleets;
(E)
select entities that have the ability to work cooperatively with local law enforcement to carry out a project described in subsection (d);
(F)
select at least 1 entity that is a tribal educational agency; and
(G)
select—
(i)
at least 1 entity that has in place a local campaign to combat incidents of illegal passing of stopped school buses;
(ii)
at least 1 entity that has in place countermeasures to stop such incidents; and
(iii)
at least 1 entity that does not have in place such a campaign or such countermeasures.
(d)

Demonstration projects
A recipient of a grant under this section shall use such grant to carry out a project to monitor and collect data on incidents of illegal passing of stopped school buses, including a description of—
(1)
the number of incidents that occur each day;
(2)
traffic patterns or characteristics of locations in which such incidents occur, including—
(A)
road conditions;
(B)
time and location of such incidents;
(C)
lighting and weather conditions at the time such incidents occurred; and
(D)
the side of the school bus on which such incidents occurred;
(3)
the drivers involved in such incidents, including—
(A)
the age and sex of the driver;
(B)
a description of whether any law enforcement action was taken against the driver and, if so, a summary of such action;
(C)
whether a driver has a record of traffic citations; and
(D)
whether distracted driving was involved in such incidents; and
(4)
any other information the Administrator determines is able to be collected in order to prepare the public safety messaging campaign required under section 3.
(e)

Report to Administrator
Upon completion of a demonstration project carried out with a grant provided under this section, a grant recipient shall submit to the Administrator a report containing the data collected during such project.
(f)

Report to Congress
Not later than 1 year after the Administrator provides grants to eligible entities under subsection (c)(1), the Administrator shall prepare a report describing the findings of the demonstration projects carried out with such grants and submit such report to Congress.
(g)

Definition of eligible entity
In this section, the term “eligible entity” means a local educational agency (as defined in section 8101 of the Elementary And Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801) or a tribal educational agency (as defined in section 6132(b) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 7452(b))).
3.

National public safety messaging campaign
(a)

In general
Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Administrator submits the report required under section 2(f), the Administrator shall produce and distribute a national public safety messaging campaign to increase awareness and education about the dangers of illegal passing of stopped school buses.
(b)

Requirements
In producing and distributing the national public safety messaging campaign under subsection (a), the Administrator shall—
(1)
incorporate the findings contained in the report submitted under subsection (2)(f) in the campaign, including distributing the campaign to targeted sectors of the public based on such report;
(2)
ensure that the campaign includes radio, television, and social media advertising and is not limited to only digital downloads or regional distribution; and
(3)
with respect to television advertising, seek advertising time on key national broadcasts with a wide audience.
(c)

Training
Not later than 1 year after the date on which the Administrator submits the report required under section 2(f), the Administrator shall modify educational materials created for traffic safety resource prosecutors and State agencies responsible for administering driver’s license laws to include more data on the dangers of illegal passing of stopped school buses and emphasize the importance of strong enforcement of laws prohibiting the passing of stopped school buses.
(d)

Pupil transportation safety
The Administrator shall include in the next scheduled edition of the biennial highway safety countermeasure guide published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that is provided to State highway safety offices information about pupil transportation safety and effective countermeasures to address illegal passing of stopped school buses.
4.

Model legislation
(a)

In general
Not later than 1 year after the Secretary of Transportation completes the review of illegal passing laws conducted pursuant to section 24110(a) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (23 U.S.C. 402 note), the Secretary shall, in consultation with the National Conference of State Legislatures, develop model legislation to address incidents of illegal passing of stopped school buses.
(b)

Requirement
The model legislation developed under subsection (a) shall require that a citation for the illegal passing of a stopped school bus be classified as a moving violation.