Proposed bill to shift blame, bring big fines to drivers passing school buses

A bill before the House of Assembly tries to shift the blame for dangerous driving around school buses, school zones and construction sites and will increase the fine for passing a school bus with its red lights flashing.  

The amendment to the Highway Traffic Act will make the owner of a vehicle responsible when a driver passes a school bus with its lights flashing or speeds in a construction or school zone.

It also means a licence plate number could be enough for a ticket and conviction.

The proposed changes in Bill 12 also include high fines for passing stopped school buses with lights flashing. If Bill 12 is passed, maximum fines will triple, increasing to $1,200.

Government finally listening

Terry Parsons, a school bus driver and owner of Parsons Transportation in Conception Bay South, is happy with the proposed change.  

"After all the interviews that we've done, the work that we've been doing with our drivers doing all this training trying to get everybody on the same page, it's nice to see that somebody in government is finally listening," he said.

Parsons said that drivers passing school buses while children are entering or exiting the bus is a real problem.

"There's certain areas in C.B.S. that you won't see it happen, but there's other areas that it happens on a daily basis," he said. 

Drivers no longer need to be identified

As the law stands now, Parsons said it is tough for drivers to be convicted because a witness must be able to identify the driver in court. However, the amendment would change that.

"According to the new amendment, the drivers wouldn't actually have to be able to describe the driver. They wouldn't have to identify the driver in court," he said.

"All they need is the place, the time and the licence plate number of the vehicle. Then the owner gets the ticket and the onus is then on the owner to defend himself or turn over the person who was driving the vehicle at the time."

It should make a huge difference- Terry Parsons, bus driver

Parsons is hopeful the change will prevent drivers from passing buses in the future.

"It should make a huge difference," he said.

There are some defences to the law, however. The owner of an offending vehicle will not be held responsible if they can prove that they were not in possession of the vehicle or if it was being driven without the owner's consent.

The amendment to the Highway Traffic Act is still before the House of Assembly, and received its first reading in April. 

It's now up to MHAs to vote the bill in to law, but it isn't known when that could happen.