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SPONSOR: |
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DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
504 |
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SHORT TITLE: |
School Bus Accident Investigation |
SB |
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ANALYST: |
L. Baca |
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APPROPRIATION
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Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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NFI |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Responses
Received From
State
Department of Education (SDE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
House Bill 504
designates the Transportation Division of the State Department of Education
(SDE) as an approved accident investigation unit for school bus crashes,
provides for the confidentiality of records, and creates a new section of the
NMSA 1978.
Significant
Issues
HB 504 directs the SDE’s Transportation Division to collect and analyze data related to school bus crashes and their causes in order to make improvements in school bus safety operations. The Division is to receive, upon request, assistance and data from any department, division, board, bureau, commission or other agency of the state, any political subdivision of the state or any public or private hospital that will enable the division to carry out investigations relating to school bus crashes and their causes.
The bill provides that the privacy of crash
victims must be protected in a disclosure to the division; the division is
directed to identify a victim by a case number and not by name. The bill further provides that all records of
the division that are related to its operations as an approved accident
investigation unit shall be confidential and not be available to any person
other than an employee of the division.
An employee of the division charged with the custody of the records is
not required to produce them or evidence of anything contained in them in a
legal action or other proceeding.
CONFLICT
The SDE reports three potential conflicts
between HB 504 and:
Section 66-7-507 NMSA 1978, which provides that
the Traffic Safety Bureau of the
Section 66-7-508 NMSA 1978 provides that records
of an approved accident–investigation-unit shall be confidential and shall not
be available to any person other than a member or employee of the unit, and the
employee charged with keeping the records may not release them nor may they be
used in any legal action or proceedings.
HB 504 contains similar language and applies it to SDE’s Transportation
Division. Will the two state units be precluded from sharing accident investigation
information?
Section 66-7-509 NMSA 1978 requires that an
“approved accident-investigation unit shall make an annual report to the
Traffic Safety Bureau, the Governor and the Legislature not later than January
1 of the calendar year following such designation of approval, and this report
shall contain the unit’s findings and recommendations as to the formulation of
effective methods and means to reduce motor vehicle accidents.” These provisions could be construed to
require the disclosure of information deemed confidential by the unit’s employees.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
1.
Is the primary purpose of the bill to
improve school bus safety?
2.
How will enacting this bill help improve
school bus safety?
3.
Will being designated as an authorized
accident-investigating unit requires additional staff at SDE?
4.
Is the SDE’s Transportation Division
staff trained to perform the duties assigned by this bill?