Interpretation ID: aiam4225
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington
DC 20515;
Dear Mr. Applegate: Thank you for your letter enclosing correspondence from you constituent, Mr. Thomas Ash of East Liverpool, who asked about our school bus definition. I appreciate this opportunity to respond to your concerns.; Mr. Ash explained in his letter to you that Ohio considers vehicle carrying 10 or more student passengers as school buses. He stated that because a vehicle carrying 9 or fewer passengers is not a 'school bus' under state law, it may be operated by staff members and advisors who do not have the special qualifications required by the state for school bus drivers. Since the East Liverpool Board of Education would like to use 15-passenger vans operated by those staff members and advisors to carry school children to school related events, it is interested in changing Ohio's definition of a school bus to exclude such vans. Because the state definition of a school bus adopts the Federal definition of that term, Mr. Ash asks us to explain the reasons for our school bus definition.; The definition is governed by legislation enacted by Congress. I accordance with Congress's mandate in the Motor Vehicle and Schoolbus Safety Admendment (sic) of 1974, NHTSA has issued safety standards for all new school buses. In the Act, Congress mandated that the safety standards apply to all school buses that are designed to carry more than 10 passengers to ensure that all vehicles likely to be significantly used for student transportation would be subject to comprehensive safety standards.; The East Liverpool City Schools can purchase new 15-passenger vans conforming to our standards, for use in transporting its pupils to school-related events. however, under the Act and our safety standards, a dealer selling a new 15-passenger van to a school district for the purpose of carrying children to and from school or on school-related trips, must ensure that the vehicle conforms to all of our school bus safety standards.; Our schoolbus safety standards apply only to the manufacture and sal of new schoolbuses and do not regulate issues of vehicle operation such as driver training or qualifications. The authority to govern the operation of vehicles rests with the State. NHTSA has issued guidelines to the States to assist them in setting up their own highway safety programs. Ohio's decision to require all drivers of school buses to have special training or a special license is consistent with the recommendations we have issued on pupil transportation safety. Those recommendations are found in Highway Safety Program Standard No. 17, a copy of which is enclosed for your information. I want to emphasize that the States are not required to follow our guidelines and can modify them to meet their pupil transportation needs.; Sincerely, Diane K. Steed