Bill > A1777

Introduced Session

This bill requires an omnibus (bus) driver to visually inspect the omnibus at the end of his or her transportation route to determine that no person with a disability has been left on the bus. In the event that, after notice and opportunity to be heard, a bus driver is found to have left a person with a disability on the bus at the end of the route, the driver's commercial motor vehicle driving privilege would be: · suspended for one month, for a first offense; · suspended for six months, for a second offense; or · permanently revoked, for a third offense. The bus driver's commercial motor vehicle driving privilege would be permanently revoked if the driver is found to have acted with gross negligence and a person with a disability who was left on a bus at the end of the route was harmed as a result of foreseeable danger. Additionally, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) would be required to include in its records for persons holding or required to hold a commercial driver license (CDL) any information related to a driver leaving a person with a disability on a bus. If a bus driver's commercial motor vehicle driving privilege is suspended pursuant to the provisions of the bill, information about the suspension would be included on his or her driving record information filed by the MVC with the Commercial Driver License Information System (CDLIS). The federal CDLIS provides states an opportunity to exchange information about CDL drivers, convictions, and disqualifications, including information about license suspensions and revocations. This bill is modeled on a statute concerning school bus drivers who leave a child on a school bus.

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Robert Clifton (R)*,  Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D), 

Reported out of Assembly Comm. with Amendments, 2nd Reading (on 01/24/2019)