Assemblymen Dave Mayer & Paul Moriarty

Mayer/Moriarty Bus Safety Bill heads to full Assembly
Bill will require driver checks of the bus at the end of their route

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assemblymen Dave Mayer and Paul Moriarty sponsored to require school bus drivers to inspect their buses at the end of their routes to determine that no pupils have been left on-board was released today by the Assembly Education Committee.

Similar Legislation (S-328) - sponsored by Senator Fred Madden - already has passed the Senate.

"We must do everything in our power to ensure that our children are safe from the time they get on the bus in the morning until the time they return home after the school day," said Mayer, D-Gloucester, Camden. "The burden should fall on the bus driver to inspect the bus because the safety and future of our students and children depends on it."

Under the bill, if a child is left on the bus, the driver's school bus endorsement would be suspended for six months for a first offense and permanently revoked after a second offense.

In addition, a driver's bus endorsement also could be permanently revoked if a child left on a bus is harmed as a result of foreseeable danger and the bus driver was found to have acted with gross negligence.

"This legislation will reassure parents that additional precautions are being taken to protect their children," said Moriarty (D-Gloucester/Camden). "Requiring school bus drivers to take a few more minutes to check their buses to help ensure the safety of our children is certainly not too much to ask."

Every month across the country, stories of children left on buses make headlines in local papers. Twenty-five million kids get on roughly 500,000 school buses every morning in the United States and the ride home in the afternoon.

The bill, A-2728 was released by a vote of 8 to 0.

The 4th Legislative District includes the towns of Clementon Borough, Franklin Township, Glassboro Borough, Gloucester Township, Laurel Springs Borough, Lindenwold Borough, Monroe Township, Newfield Borough, Pitman Borough and Washington Township.