Proposed Bill to Raise Maximum
School Bus Speed Limit

RICHMOND, Va. - Motorists who travel along Route 17 through Virginia know full well the hustle and bustle of this major thoroughfare linking Pennsylvania and Florida and all states in between. Now school bus drivers hope a new law could better enable them to keep up with the traffic flow and keep students safer.

The Virginia Education Association is pushing legislation that would eliminate the current requirement that all school buses not exceed 35 mph when engaged in route service, meaning from the first student pick up or drop off until the last.

Del. Ed Scott introduced House Bill No. 650 on Jan. 11 that eliminates the 35-mph school bus maximum from the state cod. School buses would be allowed to operate at speeds up to 45 miles per hour or the minimum speed allowable, whichever is greater, on any highway where the maximum speed limit is 55 miles per hour or less, and 55 miles per hour on all interstate highways and on other highways where the maximum speed limit is more than 55 miles per hour. At this writing the bill remained in the Committee on Transportation.

[Editor's note -- the legislation passed the House and Senate in March and was awaiting signature.]

In his State of the Commonwealth Address on Jan. 16, Gov. Tim Kaine identified rural roads as safety hazards for students on school buses.

So-called "dead-head" routes, any operation of the school bus after the last student pick-up or drop-off with either school or the transportation yard as the next and final destination, may reach speeds of 45 mph when the maximum posted speed limit is 55. Non-regular education routes such as field trips, special activity trips or maintenance test drives are included.

A spokesperson said the Virginia Department of Education does not take a position one way or another on the proposed bill.

School bus operators with routes that entail the highway are forced to crawl along while the rest of traffic zooms past at often twice the speed.

"It is a problem," said Larry Himes, transportation director for Stafford County Public Schools, located about half-way between Washington, D.C. and Richmond.

Linda Powell, the driver training safety coordinator for Stafford County Public Schools, requested the change last spring during a VEA membership meeting. She said the interstate is not so problematic for her drivers, as the school only uses it for field trips that do not fall under the state regulated speed limit. But navigating rural highways like Route 17 is growing increasingly unsafe.

Recently the Virginia DOT completed an upgrade to Route 17 near the North Carolina border that widened the highway to four lanes.

"(The state is) making the roads better, wider and therefore encouraging higher speeds," said Powell, a former school bus driver of 13 years. "We have to keep up with the flow."

In related news, a recent survey of members of the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) indicated that 40 jurisdictions have increased their speed limits since 1995 when the National Maximum Speed Limit (NMSL) was repealed. Additionally, 31 states have increased speed limits to 70 mph or faster on some portions of the roadways, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Since the NMSL repeal, fatalities have remained level, suggesting that increased speed on the nation's highways has counteracted the positive impact of improved safety in vehicles.

"The nation should have experienced a significant decline in total fatalities and injuries given the tremendous increase in safety belt use coupled with the increasingly safe design of vehicles," said GHSA Chair Lt. Colonel Jim Champagne. "However, it appears these benefits have been offset both by increasing speeds limits and the public exceeding these increased posted limits."

Speeding, failure to wear a seat belt, and drunk driving are the "big three killers" on the highway, he said.

In addressing whether school buses should be allowed a faster speed limit, Champagne noted that, in general, lower-speed accidents cause fewer injuries.

"I have no problem personally with the situation of requiring a segregated speed for school buses until children are provided with the proper restraint system," he said. "I would error on the side of the lower speed."

The GHSA report, "Survey of the States: Speeding," can be found at www.ghsa.org.

Source: School Transportation News, January 2006. All rights reserved.