O.C.G.A. § 40-8-111 (2019)
Equipment generally
(a) Each school bus used for the transportation of school children in the State of Georgia shall be in compliance with the State Board of Education bus specifications for the model year of such school bus. (b) Each public school system shall be required to maintain each of its school buses in good working condition, including all safety equipment required in accordance with the specifications established pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section. (c) Nothing in subsection (a) of this Code section shall apply to motor vehicles operated by a local transit system which transport school children to and from school on regular or scheduled routes of a transit vehicle with regular fare-paying passengers.
History
(Ga. L. 1970, p. 586, § 2; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1367, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 40; Ga. L. 1986, p. 501, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2963, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 621, § 8.)
Annotations
Cross references. - Code section not applicable to public transit systems transporting school children, § 40-8-114. Editor’s notes. - Ga. L. 1992, p. 2963, § 2, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: ‘‘The requirements of this Act shall apply only to new school buses manufactured on or after January 1, 1993.’’
Ga. L. 2004, p. 621, § 5, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: ‘‘This part [consisting of §§ 5-8 of the Act] shall be known and may be cited as ‘Aleana’s Law.’ ’’
JUDICIAL DECISIONS Editor’s notes. - In light of the similarity of the statutory provisions, decisions under former Code 1933, § 66-311 are included in the annotations for this Code section. Inapplicability of section to common carrier. - Predecessor law was intended to apply to busses primarily and exclusively used for transportation of school children to and from school, and not to a bus operating as a common carrier for hire, traveling on a schedule along an
established route, and transporting school children only as an incident of the carrier’s duty to transport any member of the public who wishes to ride and pays the rider’s fare. Hanks v. Georgia Power Co., 86 Ga. App. 654, 72 S.E.2d 198 (1952) (decided under former Code 1933, § 66-311). Cited in Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Auth. v. Tuck, 163 Ga. App. 132, 292 S.E.2d 878 (1982).
OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Standards apply to city transit buses in which children ride. - Safety and equipment standards set up by Ga. L. 1970, p. 586, § 2 (see now O.C.G.A.
§ 40-8-111) apply to the buses of a city transit system in which school children ride. 1972 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U72-18.
RESEARCH REFERENCES Am. Jur. 2d. - 7A Am. Jur. 2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, §§ 87, 282. 8 Am. Jur. 2d, Automobiles and Highway Traffic, §§ 496, 923.
C.J.S. - 60 C.J.S., Motor Vehicles, § 189. 78 C.J.S., Schools and School Districts, § 457.