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Policy CJCA - Transportation: Equipment: Buses

Policy CJCA: Transportation: Equipment: Buses (PDF)

Issue Date: May 16, 2018

Updated: November 16, 2022


Design and Construction

All buses that the District uses will conform to the requirements set out for new and used buses in the Standards for Utah School Buses and Operations. Further, the District will purchase no buses unless the State Board of Education is in possession of a certificate to the effect that the buses to be purchased comply with Standards for Utah School Buses and Operations, or that the manufacturer or seller has obtained a waiver of requirements from the State Board of Education.

Standards for Utah School Buses and Operations, p.12-14, 17-18 (2019)

Markings

Every school bus, when operated for the transportation of school children, shall bear upon the front and rear of the bus a plainly visible sign containing the words “School Bus” in letters not less than eight inches in height, which shall be removed when the vehicle is not in use for the transportation of school children.

Utah Code § 41-6a-1302(1) (2020)  

Each school bus shall have a clearly legible sign placed by each entrance to the bus, which warns that unauthorized entry of a school bus is a violation of state law.

Utah Code § 76-9-107(3) (2003)

Lights

Every school bus shall, in addition to any other equipment and distinctive markings be equipped with signal lamps mounted as high and as widely spaced laterally as practicable, which shall display to the front two alternately flashing red lights located at the same level and to the rear two alternately flashing red lights located at the same level, and these lights shall be visible at 500 feet in normal sunlight.

Utah Code § 41-6a-1301(1) (2015)

Every school bus shall also be equipped with yellow signal lamps mounted near each of the four red lamps and at the same level but closer to the vertical centerline of the bus, which shall display two alternately flashing yellow lights to the front and two alternately flashing yellow lights to the rear, and these lights shall be visible at 500 feet in normal sunlight.

Utah Code § 41-6a-1301(2) (2015)

Inspection

Before any new school bus shall be put into service, the District shall inspect and test the bus to verify conformance with the Standards for Utah School Buses and Operations. Tests, which shall be conducted during the acceptance inspection of a school bus, shall include, but not be limited to:

  1. Inventory of required safety features.
  2. Functions tests of all lamps and signals, emergency braking system, horn and other operating systems.

If further inspection is required, the District will request that Utah Department of Transportation officers provide an acceptance test.

Standards for Utah School Buses and Operations, p. 13 (2019)

The District shall perform annual safety inspections on its school buses in accordance with regulations of the Utah Highway Patrol Division. The District shall remove from public highways any buses that have defects endangering the safety of passengers or other drivers until any such defects have been remedied. District buses are also subject to random inspection by the Utah Highway Patrol.

Utah Code § 53-8-211(2)(3) (2020)

Standards for Utah School Buses and Operations p. 19 (2019)