TRENTON, N.J. – A bill requiring school bus drivers to inspect buses for any pupils remaining at the end of a run has passed both houses in the New Jersey Legislature this month, and now awaits Gov. Jon Corzine’s signature in order to become law.
A supplement to the School Bus Safety Act of 2003, the bill would penalize drivers for leaving students behind, incurring a six-month suspension after the first offense.
The driver’s license would be permanently revoked in the case of a second offense, or if a child left on a bus is injured as a result of gross negligence on the part of the driver.
Senators Fred Madden and Stephen Sweeney, primary sponsors of the bill, are calling for better hiring practices and training at school districts and bus companies, citing two recent instances of bus driver neglect that occurred within a month of each other.
Two children left on school buses in separate incidents in Glassboro and Vineland, N.J., were later found wandering residential streets in harsh winter weather.
Sweeney says the bill “legislates common sense.”
