Interpretation ID: 19951

Ms. Sharon Elsenbeck
Director of Support Services
Three Springs of North Carolina
P.O. Box 1370
Pittsboro, NC 27312

Dear Ms. Elsenbeck:

This responds to your April 28, 1999, letter that asks whether your residential treatment facility for "adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems" must transport its students by buses that meet the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) school bus safety standards. You state that your residents attend an on-campus, non-public, school.

By way of background, NHTSA is authorized to issue and enforce Federal motor vehicle safety standards applicable to new motor vehicles. Our statute at 49 U.S.C. 30112 requires any person selling or leasing a new vehicle to sell or lease a vehicle that meets all applicable standards. Accordingly, persons selling or leasing a new "school bus" must sell or lease a vehicle that meets the safety standards applicable to school buses. Our statute defines a "schoolbus" as any vehicle that is designed for carrying a driver and more than 10 passengers and which, NHTSA decides, is likely to be "used significantly" to transport "preprimary, primary, and secondary" students to or from school or related events. 49 U.S.C. 30125. By regulation, the capacity threshold for school buses corresponds to that of buses -- vehicles designed for carrying more than ten (10) persons. For example, a 15-person van that is likely to be used significantly to transport students is a "school bus."

Our statute thus regulates primarily manufacturers and sellers of new school buses. Any person selling a new school bus must sell a vehicle that is certified as meeting our school bus standards. Conventional buses (including 15-person vans) are not certified as doing so, and thus cannot be sold, as new vehicles, under circumstances where they are likely to be used to carry students on a regular basis.

You did not describe the program of Three Springs, so we are unable to determine whether your facility is a "school" under our statute. For your information, I am enclosing an April 8, 1998, letter to Mr. Gary Hammontree, director of a residential treatment program called Starr Commonwealth. The main purpose of Starr Commonwealth was to provide psychological and therapeutic counseling to youths placed in the program by the juvenile justice system. In our letter to Mr. Hammontree, we determined that Starr Commonwealth provided services that are distinct from the academic instruction associated with a "school," and that Starr Commonwealth was therefore not a school. Accordingly, we concluded that persons selling a new bus to the facility to transport the youths to counseling-related activities, such as service projects in the community, are not required to sell a "school bus." On the other hand, Starr Commonwealth also transported some students to off-campus public schools and events related to the schools. We therefore also determined that new buses sold to regularly transport students to those schools or to school-related events are "school buses" and would have to meet Federal school bus standards.

As to whether you must use school buses, that question is answered by State law. Because our regulations apply only to the manufacture and sale of new motor vehicles, we do not prohibit facilities from using non-school buses to transport their pupils.  Matters relating to motor vehicle use are determined by state law, so you should check North Carolina law to see what State requirements apply to your vehicles. For information on North Carolina's requirements, you can contact North Carolina's State Director of Pupil Transportation:

In closing, we wish to emphasize that school buses are one of the safest forms of transportation in this country, and that we therefore strongly recommend that all buses that are used to transport school children be certified as meeting NHTSA's school bus safety standards. Further, using buses that do not meet NHTSA's school bus standards to transport students could result in increased liability in the event of a crash. Since such liability would be determined by State law, you may wish to consult with your attorney and insurance carrier for advice on this issue.

I hope this information is helpful. For more information about the safety features of a school bus, I am enclosing NHTSA's publication: "School Bus Safety: Safe Passage for America's Children." If you have any further questions please feel free to contact Dorothy Nakama at this address or by telephone at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,
Frank Seales, Jr.
Chief Counsel
Enclosure
ref:VSA#571.3