HB 609-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED
2001 SESSION
03/09
HOUSE BILL 609-FN-LOCAL
This bill deletes the exception for school buses from the law requiring persons under 18 years of age to wear passenger restraints.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
01-0502
03/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand One
AN ACT requiring passengers on school buses to wear seat belts.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Child Passenger Restraints Required; School Bus Exception Deleted. Amend RSA 265:107-a, II to read as follows:
II. A person shall not be guilty of a violation of this section if the motor vehicle the person is driving is regularly used to transport passengers for hire, [is a school bus weighing more than 10,000 pounds or is a school bus weighing less than 10,000 pounds that was manufactured without safety belts, or there is an individual education plan statement contraindicating the use of restraints,] is a vehicle manufactured before 1968 unless the vehicle is a school bus, is a motorcycle as defined in RSA 259:63 , is an antique motor car or motorcycle as defined in RSA 259:4, or is being operated in a parade authorized by law or ordinance, provided that the parade vehicle is travelling at a speed of no more than 10 miles per hour, or if there is an individual education plan statement contraindicating the use of restraints.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2002.
LBAO
01-0502
2/7/01
HB 609-FN-LOCAL - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT requiring passengers on school buses to wear seat belts.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Education indicates this bill will increase local expenditures by $20,536,000 in FY 2002 and by $316,800 each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact to state, county and local revenue or state and county expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department states there are approximately 2,000 buses in operation in the state, either owned or contracted by local school districts, and that 200 of these are replaced each year. In order to install seatbelts on these buses, the seats would have to be removed since they are designed to give slightly on impact and seats with belts are designed to hold firm. The Department estimates it will cost $10,268 to retrofit each bus. The cost to retrofit 2,000 buses in the first year will be $20,536,000. The incremental cost to obtain 200 buses with seat belts each year will be $1,584 per bus, or $316,800.