CHAPTER 318
FORMERLY
SENATE SUBSTITUTE NO. 1
FOR
SENATE BILL NO. 174
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CELL PHONE USE BY SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):
Section 1. Amend Subchapter IX, Chapter 41, Title 21, Delaware Code by inserting therein the following:
Ҥ4176A. Cell Phone Use by School Bus Drivers; Penalties
(a) No driver shall operate a school bus on any highway while using a cell telephone while such vehicle is in motion and such vehicle is transporting one or more children; provided that this section shall not apply to communications made to and from a central dispatch, school transportation department or its equivalent when the bus is not equipped with a functioning two-way radio.
(b) For the purposes of this section, cell telephone means a cellular, analog, wireless or digital telephone.
(c) Whoever violates this section shall for the 1st offense be fined not less than $50 nor more than $100. For each subsequent offense the person shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $200 and shall have his/her school bus endorsement removed from his/her driver’s license for a period of at least 6 months.
(d) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution under this section that the driver’s use of a cell telephone was necessitated by a bona fide emergency.”