Bill 56 explained in plain English
Keeping Students Safe on School Buses Act (Highway Traffic Amendment), 2018
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
Bill 56, the Keeping Students Safe on School Buses Act (Highway Traffic Amendment), 2018, mandates three-point seat belts on school buses, referencing federal safety standards, with specific transition rules for older buses.
This bill amends the Highway Traffic Act to make three-point seat belts mandatory on forward-facing seats of school buses. It specifies that these seat belts must meet certain federal safety standards. There are specific conditions under which this requirement does not apply to school buses manufactured before September 1, 2020, until the end of 2024. These exceptions relate to the duration of the bus ride for children and the types of highways the bus travels on. The bill also clarifies existing requirements related to vehicle safety standards for buses.
- Amends the Highway Traffic Act to require school buses to be equipped with three-point seat belts on forward-facing seats.
- Specifies that the seat belt equipment must meet requirements outlined in federal regulations.
- Includes a transition period for school buses manufactured before September 1, 2020, where the seat belt requirement may not apply under certain conditions.
- Repeals the transition provisions on January 1, 2026.
- Clarifies wording in existing provisions of the Highway Traffic Act regarding vehicle safety standards.
- School bus operators
- Manufacturers of school buses
- Children transported on school buses
- The Ministry responsible for the Highway Traffic Act
- Federal government departments responsible for motor vehicle safety standards
- School buses must be equipped with three-point seat belts on forward-facing seats.
- During a transition period, buses manufactured before September 1, 2020, have exceptions to the seat belt requirement under specific circumstances (e.g., duration of ride, type of highway).
- The Act comes into force on September 1, 2020.
- The transition provisions for older buses do not apply after December 31, 2024.
- The transition provisions are repealed on January 1, 2026.
- The bill may result in costs for manufacturers and operators to ensure school buses are equipped with three-point seat belts that meet federal standards.
- The bill text does not specify penalties for non-compliance, which would likely be covered under existing provisions of the Highway Traffic Act.
- The bill does not explicitly define penalties for non-compliance; these are assumed to be covered under the general enforcement mechanisms of the Highway Traffic Act.
- The specific definitions of "children" and detailed requirements within subsection 208 (5) of Schedule 4 to the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (Canada) are not provided in this bill text.
Amends Section 106 to mandate three-point seat belts on school buses and modify existing provisions related to safety standards.
Source: Section 1
School buses must be equipped in accordance with specific requirements found in subsection 208 (5) of Schedule 4 of these regulations.
Source: Section 1 (2), (7.1)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced