California Code of Regulations › Title 13 - Motor Vehicles › Division 2 - Department of the California Highway Patrol › Chapter 6.5 - Motor Carrier Safety › Article 3 - General Driving Requirements › Section 1217 - Transportation of Passengers

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
No driver shall drive a vehicle transporting passengers in
					 violation of the following provisions:
(a) Seating Capacity. Except as provided in
				  subsection (e), the number of passengers (excluding infants in arms) shall not
				  exceed the number of safe and adequate seating spaces, or for school buses,
				  school pupil activity buses, youth buses, and farm labor vehicles, the number
				  of passengers specified by the seating capacity rating set forth in the
				  departmental Vehicle Inspection Approval Certificate.
(b) Weight. No more passengers shall be
				  transported than the number whose weight, in addition to the weight of any
				  property transported, can be carried without exceeding the manufacturer's
				  maximum gross vehicle weight rating or the combined maximum rating of the tires
				  supporting each axle.
(c) Step
				  Wells. Passengers shall not be permitted in the front step well of any bus
				  while the vehicle is in motion.
(d)
				  Seat Beside Driver. No more than two pupils shall be allowed to occupy the
				  seating space beside the driver of a Type 2 school bus.
(e) Standing Passengers. A vehicle shall not
				  be put in motion until all passengers are seated, and all passengers must
				  remain seated while the vehicle is in motion. Standing passengers are permitted
				  only on a bus (except a school bus, SPAB, or youth bus) operated in regularly
				  scheduled passenger stage service or urban and suburban service by a common
				  carrier or publicly-owned transit system, and equipped with grab handles or
				  other means of support for standing passengers, and constructed so that
				  standing room in the aisle is at least 74 in. high.
(f) Open Doors. While passengers are aboard,
				  a vehicle shall not be put in motion until the doors are closed. The doors
				  shall not be opened until the vehicle is stopped. The doors of a school bus
				  shall be closed while the bus is in motion, whether or not there are passengers
				  in the school bus.
(g) Emergency
				  Exits. While a passenger is aboard, no bus or modified limousine shall be put
				  in motion with any emergency exit locked or otherwise secured against being
				  opened from the inside. While a passenger is aboard, no bus or modified
				  limousine, equipped with emergency exits that are designed to be opened from
				  the outside, shall be put in motion with such emergency exits locked or
				  otherwise secured against being opened from either the outside or the inside.
				  This paragraph shall not apply to buses operated by or under contract to law
				  enforcement agencies while transporting persons in police custody.
(h) Interior Lighting. During darkness, the
				  driver shall ensure that the interior lighting is sufficient for passengers to
				  enter and exit safely and whenever otherwise deemed necessary.
(i) Ejection of Pupils. The driver of a
				  school bus, youth bus, or SPAB shall not eject any school pupil unless the
				  pupil is given into the custody of a parent or any person designated by the
				  parent or school.
(j) Ejection of
				  Pupils. The driver of a PAB shall not eject any school pupil unless the pupil
				  is given into the custody of a parent or any person designated by the
				  parent.
(k) Exemptions. The
				  provisions of subsections (c) and (e) shall not apply to persons testing or
				  training a driver, maintenance personnel, a sales or manufacturers'
				  representative, or an adult acting upon a request by a school bus or SPAB
				  driver to supervise or assist a pupil.
1. New
					 subsection (i) filed 4-3-80; designated effective 7-1-80 (Register 80, No.
					 14).
2. Amendment of subsection (i) filed 6-9-82; effective
					 thirtieth day thereafter (Register 82, No. 24).
3. Amendment of
					 subsections (a), (e) and (h) filed 10-28-82; effective thirtieth day thereafter
					 (Register 82, No. 44).
4. New subsection (g) and subsection
					 relettering filed 4-22-93; operative 5-24-93 (Register 93, No.
					 17).
5. Editorial correction of printing error in subsection (g)
					 (Register 93, No. 22).
6. Amendment of subsection (f) and NOTE filed
					 4-15-98; operative 5-15-98 (Register 98, No. 16).
7. New subsection
					 (j), subsection relettering and amendment of NOTE filed 7-6-2011; operative
					 8-5-2011 (Register 2011, No. 27).
8. Amendment of subsection (g) and
					 amendment of NOTE filed 7-31-2017 as an emergency; operative 7-31-2017
					 (Register 2017, No. 31). A Certificate of Compliance must be transmitted to OAL
					 by 1-29-2018 or emergency language will be repealed by operation of law on the
					 following day.
9. Certificate of Compliance as to 7-31-2017 order
					 transmitted to OAL 1-19-2018 and filed 2-27-2018 (Register 2018, No.
					 9).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
						543,
						27375,
						31401,
						34500,
						34501,
						34501.5 and
						34508,
						Vehicle Code. Reference: Sections
						27375,
						31401,
						34501 and
						34501.5,
						Vehicle Code.