95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB1238


 
Introduced 2/15/2007, by Rep. Jim Watson
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 		














625 ILCS 5/12-815
  from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 12-815







    Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. Provides that a strobe lamp on a school bus may be lighted at any time when the bus is being used as a school bus and is bearing one or more pupils  (rather than only when the bus is stopped or moving very slowly under those circumstances). Effective immediately.
















LRB095 08962 DRH 29153 b

















 


 


A BILL FOR









 











HB1238

LRB095 08962 DRH 29153 b






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    AN ACT concerning transportation.

 
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    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
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represented in the General Assembly:


 
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    Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended  by changing 
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Section 12-815 as follows:
 



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    (625 ILCS 5/12-815)  (from Ch. 95 1/2, par. 12-815)



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    Sec. 12-815. Strobe lamp on school bus. 

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    (a) A school bus manufactured prior to January 1, 2000 may

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be equipped with one strobe lamp that
will emit 60
to 120 
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flashes per minute of white or bluish-white light visible to a

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motorist approaching the bus from any direction.
A school bus

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manufactured on or after January 1, 2000 shall be equipped with 
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one strobe lamp that will emit 60 to
120 flashes
per minute of 
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white or bluish-white light visible to a motorist approaching 
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the
bus from
any direction.
 The lamp shall be of
sufficient 
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brightness to be visible in normal sunlight when viewed 
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directly
from a distance of at least one mile.

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    (b) The strobe lamp shall be mounted on the rooftop of the 
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bus with the
light generating element in the lamp located 
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equidistant from each side
and either at or behind the center 
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of the rooftop.  The maximum height of
the element above the 
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rooftop shall not exceed 1/30 of its distance from
the rear of 
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the rooftop.  If the structure of the strobe lamp obscures the

 


 






HB1238
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LRB095 08962 DRH 29153 b




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light generating element, the element shall be deemed to be in 
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the center
of the lamp with a maximum height 1/4 inch less than 
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the maximum height
of the strobe lamp unless otherwise 
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indicated in rules and regulations
promulgated by the 
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Department.  The Department may promulgate rules and

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regulations to govern measurements, glare, effectiveness and 
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protection of
strobe lamps on school buses, including higher 
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strobe lamps than authorized
in this paragraph.

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    (c) The strobe lamp may be lighted only when the school bus 
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is
actually
being used as a school bus and: 


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        1. is stopping or stopped for loading or discharging 
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    pupils on a highway
outside an urban area; or


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        2. is bearing one or more pupils.
and is either stopped 
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    or, in the interest
of safety, is moving very slowly at a 
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    speed:


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            (i) less than the posted minimum speed limit, or


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            (ii) less than 30 miles per hour on a highway 
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        outside an urban area.

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(Source: P.A. 91-168, eff. 1-1-00; 91-679, eff. 1-26-00.)

 

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    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 
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becoming law.