Allowing certain vans and pickups to be used to transport pupils to activity events or from school to home in emergency situations. Effective 7-1-19

Administrative rules of the department of education regulate type III vehicles used as school buses.2(5), type III vehicles are not regular school buses but are used to transport students in a school-related context and may be marked as a school bus. A type III vehicle is a van or passenger car, including a minivan, sport utility vehicle, or station wagon. The difference between a family automobile and an equivalent type III vehicle is not the vehicle itself, but rather its use, as type III vehicles are used by schools for purposes of student transportation. To qualify as a type III vehicle, the vehicle must carry a maximum of nine or fewer people, including the driver, and weigh 10,000 pounds or less. CURRENT FEDERAL LAW. School buses are subject to a variety of federal motor vehicle safety standards. Under federal law, a school bus is a passenger motor vehicle designed to carry a driver and more than passengers that is used significantly to transport students to or from school or an event related to school. TRANSPORTATION OF OR FEWER PERSONS.1 motor vehicles designed to carry not more than persons as passengers, including the driver. The bill requires the administrative rules to allow passenger automobiles designed to carry or fewer persons, including the driver, to be used as school buses.