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| 2 | 2 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1923 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2267 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Paul W. Mark |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act enhancing school bus safety. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Paul W. MarkBerkshire, Hampden, Franklin and |
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| 16 | 16 | | Hampshire 1 of 3 |
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| 17 | 17 | | SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1923 FILED ON: 1/20/2023 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2267 |
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| 19 | 19 | | By Mr. Mark, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2267) of Paul W. Mark for legislation |
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| 20 | 20 | | relative to school bus safety. Transportation. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE SENATE, NO. 2334 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act enhancing school bus safety. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 SECTION 1. This act shall be known as “Summer’s Law”. |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2 SECTION 2. Section 7B of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2018 |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting at the end of the first paragraph, after the word |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4“year”, in line 137, the following:- |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5 “; (19) Each school bus shall be equipped with at least two sensors on or near school bus |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6doors, which shall determine and notify the operator of a school bus that there are no persons |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7located within a minimum area of twelve feet from school bus doors before and after the doors |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8close when a school bus has stopped to pick up or drop off school pupils. Each school bus shall |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9also be equipped on all sides of the bus with front, rear, and lateral sensors to determine and |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10notify the operator that there are no persons located within a minimum area of twelve feet from 2 of 3 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11all sides of the bus. The school bus operator shall not proceed any further after stopping to load |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12or discharge school pupils until the operator is notified by the sensors that there are no persons |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13located at not less than twelve feet from all sides, including doors, of the bus. All sensor systems |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14shall include, but not be limited to, radar, video, sound, or infrared technology that shall be |
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| 45 | 45 | | 15capable of detecting the presence of persons within a minimum area of twelve feet from a |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16sensor’s placement on a bus, extending from all sides of a bus and the bus doors. Sensor systems |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17shall also include an audible and visual alert signal placed within the interior of the bus, within |
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| 48 | 48 | | 18the immediate presence of the operator, to alert the operator when a person is detected within a |
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| 49 | 49 | | 19sensor’s designated minimum area of twelve feet. |
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| 50 | 50 | | 20 SECTION 3. Section 8A of said chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 |
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| 51 | 51 | | 21Official Edition, is hereby amended in the second paragraph, line 46, by inserting after the word |
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| 52 | 52 | | 22“registrar” the following:- |
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| 53 | 53 | | 23 “The pre-service school bus driver training program shall include a special unit pertaining |
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| 54 | 54 | | 24to the pickup and drop off of school pupils and school bus danger zones, which shall consist of a |
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| 55 | 55 | | 25minimum of 3 hours of behind-the-wheel training and a minimum of 3 hours of classroom |
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| 56 | 56 | | 26training.” |
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| 57 | 57 | | 27 SECTION 4. Said second paragraph of said section 8A is hereby further amended, in line |
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| 58 | 58 | | 2855, by inserting after the word “energy” the following:- |
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| 59 | 59 | | 29 “The in-service school bus driver training program shall consist of not less than 10 hours |
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| 60 | 60 | | 30of training annually, provided further that the program include a special unit pertaining to the |
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| 61 | 61 | | 31pickup and drop off of school pupils and school bus danger zones. The special unit of training 3 of 3 |
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| 62 | 62 | | 32shall consist of a minimum of 2 hours of behind-the-wheel training and a minimum of 2 hours of |
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| 63 | 63 | | 33classroom training.” |
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| 64 | 64 | | 34 SECTION 5. The commissioner of education in collaboration with the registrar shall |
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| 65 | 65 | | 35promulgate necessary rules, regulations, or procedures for the administration of this act. |
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