HB 518 - School Bus Safety Act

• Designates October as "School Bus Safety Awareness Month" to increase public awareness of proper stopping procedures for school buses loading and unloading passengers.

• Establishes a civil penalty system allowing registered vehicle owners to be fined up to $300 when drivers cannot be identified after illegally passing a stopped school bus, as detected by school bus violation detection monitoring systems.

• Authorizes school buses to install camera systems (school bus violation detection monitoring systems) to record violations of illegal passing laws and provides procedures for issuing civil notices of violation based on recorded evidence.

• Creates a process allowing registered owners to identify actual drivers or dispute liability through affidavits, including claims of vehicle theft, with civil violations handled through municipal or county courts rather than criminal proceedings.

• Requires civil penalties collected from violations to be paid to the entity operating the school bus for school bus safety technology initiatives, including purchasing and maintaining violation detection systems.