An area state representative is trying to get a constituent’s bill passed to make school buses safer.
3rd District Assemblyman Ron Tusler, who represents the western portion of Manitowoc County, says New Holstein School Bus Driver Tina Karls came to him last winter saying that she’d had a tough time seeing her back tires and sometimes kids when she had to back up in the dark.
She wanted to add a backup light that works the same as a normal backup light on the side of the bus, just in front of or behind the rear wheel.
However, Wisconsin only allows vehicles to have two backup lights. Tusler says he’s heard some guesses why it hasn’t changed, but.
“There’s not good reason I’ve heard so far that a light can’t illuminate the side of the bus when the bus is backing up,” he explained. “We think Tina Karls is right, and we think the side of the bus should be illuminated.”
However, the Harrison Republican says he didn’t want to go overboard on what the bill does.
“All this bill is going to do is allow illuminating lights when a bus backs up to be mounted on the side of each side of the bus, right above the rear tires,” he stated. “You think about the shape of a bus, a lot of distance between those rear tires and the back of the bus. We’re just going to put the lights right above it.”
The Wisconsin School Bus Association and the Wisconsin Association of School Boards support the bill, while the Wisconsin DOT has not given a position yet.
However, the DOT has some requests to add to the bill, including allowing the word “School Bus” to be illuminated on both the front and the back.
It would also require a school bus to have an LED strobe light on top of the bus.
This was the second public hearing on the bill, and it has not yet been voted on in the Wisconsin Assembly.
