I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4595 

To encourage school bus safety. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2014 

Mr. BRALEY of Iowa introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To encourage school bus safety. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘School Bus Safety 

5 Act’’. 

6 TITLE I—KADYN’S ACT 

7 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

8 This title may be cited as ‘‘Kadyn’s Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 102. WITHHOLDING APPORTIONMENTS FOR NON2 COMPLIANCE WITH SCHOOL BUS PASSINGS. 

3 (a) WITHHOLDING APPORTIONMENTS.—Chapter 1 of 

4 title 23, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘§ 171. Withholding apportionments for noncompli7 ance with school bus passings 

8 ‘‘(a) WITHHOLDING OF APPORTIONMENTS FOR NON9 COMPLIANCE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) WITHHOLDING.—The Secretary shall with11 hold 10 percent of the amount required to be appor12 tioned to any State under paragraphs (1), (3), and 

13 (4) of section 104(b) on October 1, 2015, and on 

14 each October 1 thereafter if the State does not meet 

15 the requirements of paragraph (2). 

16 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENT.—A State meets the re17 quirements of this paragraph if the State has en18 acted and is enforcing a law that imposes the fol19 lowing penalties to a motorist who is found guilty of 

20 illegally passing a stopped school bus: 

21 ‘‘(A) FIRST OFFENSE.—For a first offense, 

22 a fine of not less than $250 with the possibility 

23 of jail time and license suspension. 

24 ‘‘(B) SECOND OFFENSE WITHIN A 5-YEAR

25 PERIOD OF A FIRST OFFENSE.—For a second 

26 offense within a 5-year period of a first offense, 


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1 a fine of not less than $315 with the possibility 

2 of jail time and license suspension. 

3 ‘‘(b) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF APPORTIONED

4 FUNDS.—Funds withheld after the date specified in sub5 section (a)(1) from apportionments to any State shall not 

6 be available for apportionment to that State and such 

7 funds will lapse.’’. 

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

9 chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following: 

‘‘171. Withholding apportionments for noncompliance with school bus passings’’. 

11 TITLE II—GRANTS FOR MOTION12 ACTIVATED DETECTION SYS13 TEM ON SCHOOL BUSES 

14 SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE. 

15 This title may be cited as ‘‘Grants for Motion-Acti16 vated Detection System on School Buses Act’’. 

17 SEC. 202. GRANTS FOR MOTION-ACTIVATED DETECTION 

18 SYSTEM ON SCHOOL BUSES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

20 may provide grants to States to equip school buses with 

21 motion-activated detection system. 

22 (b) APPLICATION.—In order to qualify for a grant 

23 under this section, a State shall submit an application to 

24 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and conVerDate Mar 15 2010 06:15 May 09, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4595.IH H4595

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1 taining such information and assurances as the Secretary 

2 may require, including— 

3 (1) an assurance that the State will use grant 

4 funds to purchase motion-activated detection sys5 tems for school buses; and 

6 (2) an assurance that the State is in compliance 

7 with sections 171 and 172 of title 23, United States 

8 Code. 

9 (c) GRANT AMOUNTS.—Before awarding a grant 

10 under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that each 

11 grant award is of sufficient size and scope to carry out 

12 the requirements of this section. 

13 (d) FUNDING.—In order to fund grant awards under 

14 this section, the Secretary shall use funds not apportioned 

15 pursuant to sections 171 and 172 of title 23, United 

16 States Code. 

17 (e) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

18 of enactment of this Act, the State shall submit a report 

19 to the Secretary regarding the effectiveness of the motion20 activated detection system in any local educational agency 

21 using grant funds under this section, including— 

22 (1) whether or not the detection system has 

23 prevented children from being hit by a school bus; 

24 and 


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1 (2) a cost benefit analysis of using these detec2 tion systems on school buses. 

3 (f) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this Act, the term 

4 ‘‘motion-activated detection system’’ means a sensor sys5 tem that uses radio signals or radar waves to detect a 

6 moving target near the front, rear, and sides of a school 

7 bus. The system sounds an alarm to alert the driver when 

8 a moving target is detected within the specified danger 

9 zones of the bus. 

10 TITLE III—SCHOOL BUS DRIVER 

11 SAFETY ENFORCEMENT 

12 SEC. 301. WITHHOLDING FOR NONCOMPLIANCE OF BACK13 GROUND CHECKS OF SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS. 

14 (a) WITHHOLDING APPORTIONMENTS.—Chapter 1 of 

15 title 23, United States Code, is further amended by adding 

16 at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘§ 172. Withholding apportionments for noncompli18 ance of background checks of school bus 

19 drivers 

20 ‘‘(a) WITHHOLDING.—The Secretary shall withhold 

21 10 percent of the amount required to be apportioned to 

22 any State under paragraphs (1), (3), and (4) of section 

23 104(b) on October 1, 2015, and on each October 1 there24 after if the State does not meet the requirements of para25 graph (2). 


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1 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENT.—A State meets the require2 ments of this paragraph if the State has enacted a law 

3 that requires the employer to conduct a background check 

4 before hiring a school bus driver. Such background check 

5 shall include— 

6 ‘‘(1) a review of State and local court informa7 tion on arrests, charges, convictions; 

8 ‘‘(2) a review of any sex offender registry; and 

9 ‘‘(3) a review of any child abuse or dependent 

10 adult abuse registry. 

11 ‘‘(c) PERIOD OF AVAILABILITY OF APPORTIONED

12 FUNDS.—Funds withheld after the date specified in sub13 section (a)(1) from apportionments to any State shall not 

14 be available for apportionment to that State and such 

15 funds will lapse.’’. 

16 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The analysis for 

17 chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is further 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘172. Withholding apportionments for noncompliance of background checks of 

school bus drivers’’. 


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1 TITLE IV—SCHOOL BUS SEAT 

2 BELT DEMONSTRATION PRO3 GRAM 

4 SEC. 401. SCHOOL BUS SEAT BELT DEMONSTRATION PRO5 GRAM. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Transportation 

7 may award grants to States to develop a school bus seat 

8 belt program to purchase type 1 school buses equipped 

9 with lap/shoulder seat belts or equip existing type 1 school 

10 buses with lap/shoulder seat belts. 

11 (b) APPLICATION.—In order to qualify for a grant 

12 under this section, a State shall submit an application to 

13 the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con14 taining such information and assurances as the Secretary 

15 may require, including— 

16 (1) an assurance that the State will use grant 

17 funds to purchase type I school buses with lap/shoul18 der seat belts or equip existing type 1 school buses 

19 with such seat belts; 

20 (2) an assurance that the State is in compliance 

21 with sections 171 and 172 of title 23, United States 

22 Code; and 

23 (3) a list of the local educational agencies which 

24 the State selects to receive the seat belt equipped 


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1 buses, including the reasons why each agency should 

2 receive school buses with seat belts. 

3 (c) LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY REQUIRE4 MENTS.—The State shall require that any local edu5 cational agency that receives grant funds pursuant to this 

6 Act shall develop— 

7 (1) a plan to ensure that all students riding the 

8 school buses with lap/shoulder belts are using them; 

9 and 

10 (2) an educational program regarding seat belt 

11 safety. 

12 (d) GRANT AMOUNTS.—Before awarding a grant 

13 under this section, the Secretary shall ensure that each 

14 grant award is of sufficient size and scope to carry out 

15 the requirements of this section. 

16 (e) FUNDING.—In order to fund grant awards under 

17 this section, the Secretary shall use funds not apportioned 

18 pursuant to sections 171 and 172 of title 23, United 

19 States Code. 

20 (f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘type 1 

21 school bus’’ means a school bus weighing more than 

22 10,000 pounds. 

23 (g) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 year after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, the State shall submit a 

25 report to the Secretary regarding the effectiveness of the 


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1 lap/shoulder seat belt program in any local educational 

2 agency using grant funds under this section, including— 

3 (1) student usage of seat belts; and 

4 (2) the impact on school bus seating capacity. 

5 TITLE V—NHTSA STUDY 

6 SEC. 501. NHTSA STUDY. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Highway Traffic 

8 Safety Board shall conduct a comprehensive study regard9 ing the effects of illegal passing of school buses. 

10 (b) STUDY AND PILOT PROGRAM.—The study shall 

11 include— 

12 (1) a pilot program demonstrating the effective13 ness of additional technologies and equipment on 

14 school buses, including additional front and rear 

15 stop arms, driver alert devices, secondary warning 

16 signs and aids to general visibility of buses; 

17 (2) enforcement schemes, including camera sys18 tems and increased fines on preventing, mitigating, 

19 and enforcing against illegal passing of school buses; 

20 (3) establishment and comparison of baseline 

21 performance standards for existing school buses and 

22 operations that can be measured and validated with 

23 school buses with additional equipment, over a set 

24 period of time, in a broad geographic area; and 


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1 (4) consideration of the impact of additional 

2 driver training and a targeted public awareness and 

3 education campaign on the prevention, mitigation, 

4 and enforcement of illegal passing of school buses. 

5 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 3 years 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Board shall 

7 submit a report to Congress with the results of the study 

8 and make recommendations for changes to Federal, State, 

9 and local laws and regulations to prevent, mitigate, and 

10 better enforce illegal school bus passing laws. 

Æ 


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