PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:
Proposed Action:
This is a consensus rule making to amend section 46.7 of Title 15 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Vehicle and Traffic Law, sections 215(a) and 220
Subject:
Stop arms on school buses.
Purpose:
Permits equipping a school bus with a right side stop arm or right side stop arm and convex mirror assembly.
Text of proposed rule:
Pursuant to the authority contained in Sections 215(a) and 220 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles hereby amends 15 NYCRR Part 46 as follows:
46.7 Use of School Bus Stop Arm.
(a) Driver's (left) side stop arms.
(1) Stop arms on school buses installed under Section 375(21-c) of the Vehicle and Traffic Law must be activated while the vehicle is stopped and engaged in picking up or discharging passengers and must be installed on the left side of the bus. A school bus stop arm must be fully retracted whenever the school bus is in motion. Every school bus designed with a capacity of 45 persons or more, and manufactured for use in this state on or after January 1, 2002 shall be equipped with a second stop arm to be located on the driver's side of the bus, as close as practical to the rear corner of the bus. A school bus stop arm shall conform to specifications set forth in 49 CFR 571.131. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles adopts the following sections of title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations with the same force and effect as though herein fully set forth at length: Part 571.131. These standards shall apply to persons required to install stop arms on school buses.
[(b)](2) Incorporation by reference. The provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations which have been incorporated by reference in this Part have been filed in the Office of the Secretary of State of New York, the publication so filed being the booklet entitled Code of Federal Regulations, title 49, part 571.131 as revised March 28, 1998, published by the Office of the Federal Register. The regulations incorporated by reference may be examined at the Office of the Department of State, 41 State St., Albany, NY 12231-0001, the Supreme Court Libraries, the Legislative Library, or the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Office of Counsel, 6 Empire State Plaza[Swan Street Building], Albany, NY 12228. They may also be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402. Copies of the Code of Federal Regulations are also available at many public libraries and bar association libraries.
(b) Right side stop arms. One stop arm may be installed on the right side of the bus and the forward-facing side of the arm may be equipped with a convex mirror. The stop arm may be activated only while the vehicle is stopped and engaged in picking up or discharging passengers. The stop arm must be fully retracted whenever the school bus is in motion. Any stop arm to be installed on the right side of the bus must be pre-approved by the Commissioner of Transportation in a manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Transportation. Any request for additional information regarding the approval procedures should be made in writing to: New York State Department of Transportation, Passenger Vehicle Safety Section, 50 Wolf Road, POD 53, Albany, NY 12232. In addition, a right side stop arm must conform to the following specifications:
(1) The mirror/stop arm shall be mounted in the window band area midway between the rear axle and the end of the bus and when deployed shall not obstruct the driver's view of vehicles approaching from the rear as seen in the right side rear view mirror.
(2) The mounting bracket must have a quick release feature that will permit quick release and removal of the stop arm by a first responder.
(3) All wiring for the device must meet or exceed the bus manufacturer's original equipment manufacturing specifications and installation methodology.
(4) Power supply circuits must have bus manufacturer compatible circuit breakers or fuses to ensure that any failure of the device does not render the bus inoperable.
(5) The device must have an override switch installed to allow the driver to disable the equipment.
(6) For buses with programmed, logic-controlled, electrical systems, the device wiring and circuitry must be compatible with the bus wiring and circuitry. All wiring must be rerouted through standard accessory wire channels.
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Monica J Staats, NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, Legal Bureau, Room 526, 6 Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12228, (518) 486-3131, email: monica.staats@dmv.state.ny.us
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Same as above.
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Consensus Rule Making Determination
Section 46.7 of the Commissioner's regulations is amended to allow an owner/operator to equip a school bus with a right side stop arm or right side stop arm and convex mirror assembly. The installation of these devices is voluntary. No school district or bus contractor will be required to install this device.
A pilot program was conducted from January 2009 to June 2010 under the auspices of the Departments of Motor Vehicles and Transportation. A stop arm/convex mirror device was installed on twenty test school buses and used for their routine day-to-day operations. The testing was done in different geographic areas of the state, in both urban and rural school districts. After evaluating the data collected during the pilot program, voluntary use of such devices was approved by both the New York State Department of Transportation and the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. The devices have two benefits: They are effective in providing the school bus driver with adequate vision of a known blind spot on the right hand side of the bus. They also deter motorists trying to pass a stopped school bus on the right, while passengers are either entering or exiting the bus.
In summary, this proposed rule does not mandate that these devices must be used by either school districts or motor carriers. Since the installation of the device is voluntary and imposes no mandates upon school districts or bus contractors, the Department anticipates no objection to the proposal.
Job Impact Statement
A JIS is not submitted because this rule will have no adverse impact on job creation or job development in New York State.
