The 2023 Florida Statutes (including Special Session C)

Title XXIII
MOTOR VEHICLES

Chapter 316
STATE UNIFORM TRAFFIC CONTROL

View Entire Chapter

F.S. 316.615

316.615 School buses; physical requirements of drivers.—

(1)(a) All motor vehicles, with a seating capacity of 24 or more pupils, which are regularly used for the transportation of pupils to or from school, or to or from school activities, shall comply with the requirements for school buses of chapter 1006.

(b) For the purposes of this section the term “school” includes all public and private nursery, preelementary, elementary, and secondary level schools.

(c) A bus operated by an organization that holds a tax exemption pursuant to 26 U.S.C. s. 501(c)(3) is exempt from the color, pupil-warning-lamp-system, stop-arm, and crossing-arm requirements for school buses in chapter 1006 if:

1. The bus does not pick up pupils from home or deliver pupils to home;

2. The bus makes no intermittent stops to unload or load pupils; and

3. The bus is not operated by or under the purview of the state or political subdivision.

(2)(a) Every motor vehicle, except privately owned passenger motor vehicles and passenger motor vehicles owned or operated by governmental entities, with a seating capacity of less than 24 pupils, which is regularly used for the transportation of pupils to or from school, or to or from school activities, shall be equipped with the following:

1. Nonleaking exhaust system;

2. First-aid kit;

3. Fire extinguisher;

4. Unbroken safety glass on all windows;

5. Inside rear view mirror capable of giving the driver a clear view of motor vehicles approaching from the rear; and

6. Seats securely anchored.

(b) Such vehicles shall transport no more passengers than they are equipped to seat.

(3) A person may not operate or cause to be operated a motor vehicle covered by subsection (1) or subsection (2) when transporting school children unless the operator has met the physical examination requirements established by law and by rule of the State Board of Education. The operator of such a motor vehicle shall pass an annual physical examination and have posted in the vehicle a certificate to drive the vehicle.

(4) All school buses and all motor vehicles covered by subsections (1) and (2) must be covered by single limits liability insurance to protect pupils being transported, in the following amounts: $5,000 multiplied by the rated seating capacity of the vehicle, or $100,000, whichever is greater.

(5) Nonpublic school buses shall be allowed to deliver and pick up students either in the same areas as public school buses or in other areas adjacent to the public school bus delivery and pickup zones, as determined by the appropriate government entities.

(6) A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a nonmoving violation as provided in chapter 318.

History.—s. 1, ch. 71-135; s. 1, ch. 76-31; s. 20, ch. 83-215; s. 9, ch. 86-146; s. 13, ch. 86-173; s. 29, ch. 94-306; s. 2, ch. 95-177; s. 1, ch. 95-326; s. 159, ch. 97-190; s. 242, ch. 99-248; s. 959, ch. 2002-387; s. 9, ch. 2004-41.

Note.—Former s. 316.288.

F.S. 316.615 on Google Scholar

F.S. 316.615 on Casetext

Amendments to 316.615

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 316.615

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

Current data shows no reason an arrest or criminal charge should have occurred directly under Florida Statute 316.615.

Civil Citations / Citable Offenses under S316.615

R or S next to points is Mandatory Revocation or Suspension

S316.615 Required equipment for school buses & physical certificate for driver (fail to have/carry certificate) - Points on Drivers License: 0

S316.615 (1)(a) Required equipment for school buses & physical certificate for driver - Points on Drivers License: 0

S316.615 (2)(a) Violation school bus safety equipment - Points on Drivers License: 0

S316.615 (2)(a)1 Bus exhaust system leak - Points on Drivers License: 0

S316.615 (2)(a)2 No first-aid kit on bus - Points on Drivers License: 0

S316.615 (2)(a)3 No fire extinguisher on bus - Points on Drivers License: 0

S316.615 (2)(a)4 Safety glass required on bus - Points on Drivers License: 0

S316.615 (2)(a)5 No/improper rear view mirror - Points on Drivers License: 0

S316.615 (2)(a)6 Bus seats unsecured - Points on Drivers License: 0

S316.615 (2)(b) School Bus violation - Not enough seats - Points on Drivers License: 0

S316.615 (3) Fail pass/post examine certificate in bus - Points on Drivers License: 0

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases from cite.case.law:

TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY, v. SUAZO,, 614 So. 2d 1071 (Fla. 1992)

. . . PRIVATE SCHOOL BUSES WITH MORE THAN TWENTY-FOUR SEATS WHICH ARE WITHIN THE CLASS DESCRIBED BY SECTION 316.615 . . . in a sum of not less than $300,000. (2) School buses subject to the provisions of chapter 234 or s. 316.615 . . . 2) eliminate the applicability of section 627.742 and require a reference to chapter 234 or section 316.615 . . . Section 316.615, Florida Statutes (1989), reads in pertinent part: (l)(a) All motor vehicles, other than . . . Thus, while section 316.615 purports to exercise some regulatory authority over nonpublic-sector school . . .

TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY, v. GONZALEZ,, 614 So. 2d 1074 (Fla. 1992)

. . . PRIVATE SCHOOL BUSES WITH FEWER THAN TWENTY-FOUR SEATS WHICH ARE WITHIN THE CLASS DESCRIBED BY SECTION 316.615 . . .

TRAVELERS INDEMNITY COMPANY, v. GONZALEZ,, 593 So. 2d 330 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1992)

. . . private school buses with fewer than twenty-four seats which are within the class described by section 316.615 . . .

SUAZO, By SUAZO, v. M. DEL BUSTO,, 587 So. 2d 480 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1991)

. . . has an express exclusion which states: “[sjchool buses subject to the provisions of chapter 234 or s. 316.615 . . . addresses the responsibilities of school boards for the transportation of school children, while section 316.615 . . . Vehicles, the school bus at issue in the present case fits within the class described by subsection 316.615 . . . which chapter 234 might be made applicable to privately operated school buses by virtue of section 316.615 . . . (2) of that statute provides that “school buses subject to the provisions of chapter 234 or section 316.615 . . . The other section referred to in 627.742(2), is section 316.615, entitled “Inspection of School Buses . . . than twenty-four pupils, mandates that such vehicles comply with the requirements of chapter 234 and § 316.615 . . . Pursuant to section 316.615(6), the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has promulgated Florida . . . private school buses with more than twenty-four seats which are within the class described by section 316.615 . . .