Present law requires the driver of a motor vehicle, upon meeting or overtaking from either direction a school bus that has stopped for the purpose of receiving or discharging school children, to stop the vehicle before reaching the school bus. Further, the driver is prohibited from proceeding until the school bus resumes motion, the driver is signaled to proceed by the school bus driver, or the visual signals are no longer actuated. A local education agency (LEA) must purchase, install, operate, and maintain cameras on the exterior of school buses for the purpose of recording images of motor vehicles that fail to stop upon approaching a school bus. An LEA that installs such cameras must enter into a memorandum of understanding with local law enforcement that includes the review of evidence from a camera and overall enforcement. This bill authorizes an LEA to authorize school security personnel to review evidence from a camera on the exterior of a school bus to determine whether a violation of the stopping requirement has occurred. This bill clarifies that the school security personnel and local law enforcement review processes may be used concurrently. As used in this bill, "school safety personnel" means a school safety officer, school resource officer, or other individual employed or contracted by an LEA whose duties include student safety or campus security.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 55-8-151(c)(2), 55-8-151