The Florida Senate

234.051  School buses.--School buses shall be defined and meet specifications as follows:

(1)  DEFINITION.--For the purpose of the school code, a "school bus" is defined as a motor vehicle regularly used for the transportation of prekindergarten through grade 12 students of the public schools to and from school or to and from school activities, and owned, operated, rented, contracted, or leased by any school board, excepting:

(a)  Passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, and trucks as defined in 49 C.F.R. part 571.

(b)  Motor vehicles subject to, and meeting all requirements of, the United States Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations under Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations and operated by carriers operating under the jurisdiction of these regulations but not used exclusively for the transportation of public school students.

(2)  SPECIFICATIONS.--Each school bus as defined in 49 C.F.R. part 571, and subsection (1), which is rented, leased, purchased, or contracted for, must meet the applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards and other specifications as prescribed by regulations of the commissioner.

(3)  STANDARDS FOR LEASED VEHICLES.--A motor vehicle owned and operated by a county or municipal transit authority which is leased by the school board of the local school district for transportation of public school students must meet such standards as the Commissioner of Education establishes for the purpose of implementing this act. A school bus authorized by a school board to carry passengers other than school pupils must have the words "School Bus" and any other signs and insignia that mark or designate it as a school bus covered, removed, or otherwise concealed while such passengers are being transported.

(4)  OCCUPANT PROTECTION SYSTEMS.--Students may be transported only in designated seating positions, except as provided in s. 234.02(12), and must use the occupant crash protection system provided by the manufacturer, which system must comply with the requirements of 49 C.F.R. part 571 or with specifications of the Commissioner of Education.

History.--s. 808, ch. 19355, 1939; CGL 1940 Supp. 892(267); s. 10, ch. 29754, 1955; s. 1, ch. 65-52; s. 98, ch. 65-239; s. 1, ch. 69-300; s. 106, ch. 72-221; s. 16, ch. 75-284; s. 7, ch. 86-146; s. 11, ch. 86-173; s. 7, ch. 89-278; s. 47, ch. 91-105; s. 4, ch. 97-10; s. 135, ch. 97-190.

Note.--Former s. 234.08.