37 Tex. Admin. Code § 14.14 - Minimum Driving Record Qualifications
(a) The standards, as detailed in this
section, have been established by the department as minimum requirements to be
met by each person seeking to become employed or to remain employed as a school
bus driver to drive any motor vehicle while in use as a school bus for the
transportation of students.
(b)
Pre-employment Inquiries. Each employer shall make investigations and
inquiries, as detailed in this subsection, with respect to each school bus
driver it employs:
(1) An applicant for
employment as a school bus driver must disclose to the employer any violations
of motor vehicle laws or ordinances (other than violations involving only
parking) of which the applicant was convicted or forfeited bond or collateral
during the three years preceding the date the application is submitted; any
serious traffic violations, as defined in Texas Transportation Code, §
522.003(25),
of which the applicant was convicted during the ten years preceding the date
the application is submitted; and any suspension, revocation, or cancellation
of any driving privilege that the applicant has ever received.
(2) An inquiry into the school bus driver's
complete driving record to the department and also to any other state(s) in
which the school bus driver applicant held a motor vehicle operator's license
or permit within the past seven years. If no previous driving record is found
to exist, the employer must document their efforts to obtain such information,
and certify that no previous driving record exists for that individual. The
applicant's driving record shall be reviewed to determine whether that person
meets minimum requirements as described in subsection (d) of this
section.
(c) Annual
inquiry and review of driving record.
(1)
Each employer or designated person shall, at least once every twelve months,
make an inquiry into the complete driving record of each school bus driver it
employs to the department and also to any other state(s) in which the
individual held a motor vehicle operator's license or permit during that time
period.
(2) Each employer shall, at
least once every twelve months, review the driving record of each school bus
driver it employs to determine whether that school bus driver meets minimum
requirements as described in subsection (d) of this section.
(d) School Bus Driver's Driving
Record Evaluation. In determining a person's eligibility to drive a school bus,
any person who has accumulated ten or more penalty points shall be considered
ineligible to transport students until such time as he/she may become
qualified. The standards detailed in the figure in this subsection shall apply
in assessing penalty points for convictions of traffic law violations and crash
involvements appearing on his/her current driving record:
(1) convictions for violations included in
Table I shall be assessed one penalty point for each occurrence if the date of
the violation is within three years of the date of the driving record
evaluation;
(2) crash involvements
included in Table II shall be assessed two penalty points if the date of
occurrence is within three years of the date of the driving record evaluation.
Persons disqualified because of penalty points assessed for crash involvement
shall be notified of their right to a review;
(3) convictions for violations included in
Table III shall be assessed three penalty points for each occurrence if the
date of the violation is within three years of the date of the driving record
evaluation;
(4) convictions for
violations included in Table IV shall be assessed ten penalty points for each
occurrence if the date of the violation is within ten years of the date of the
driving record evaluation; and
(5)
convictions for violations included in Table V shall be assessed ten penalty
points for each occurrence if the date of the violation is within ten years of
the date of the driving record evaluation.
(e) The assessment of penalty points is not
required for any entry which does not appear in the alphabetized table
listings. However, any entry which is deemed comparable to one appearing in
these tables shall be assessed an equivalent number of penalty
points.
(f) Appeal procedure for
assessment of points due to crash involvement. Two points shall automatically
be assessed for a crash involvement occurring within three years of the date of
the driver record evaluation which appears on the driver history record.
Applicants assessed two points for crash involvements appearing on their
driving record may request a review by the person designated by the employer to
determine if they were a cause of the crash(es). The applicant must identify
the specific crash involvement(s) to be reviewed. Request a copy of the crash
report(s) on the approved form. Mail the form to Crash Records, Texas
Department of Transportation at the address listed on the form or obtain the
crash report(s) from the Texas Department of Transportation's Crash Report
Online Purchase System at
http://www.txdot.gov/driver/laws/crash-reports.html.
The designated person shall review information pertinent to the crash(es),
which should include the Texas Peace Officer's Crash Report. In examining this
report, consideration of such items as Charges Filed, Investigator's Narrative
of What Happened, Diagram, and Factors/Conditions Contributing to the Crash
should assist in making a determination as to whether or not the assessment of
penalty points is appropriate. If the designated person reviews the crash
report and any other pertinent information and determines that the applicant
was not a cause of the crash(es), no penalty points shall be assessed. If the
designated person determines that the applicant was a cause of the crash(es),
two penalty points shall be assessed for each crash. The decision of the
employer is final.
(g)
Disqualifications. A school bus driver who is disqualified shall not drive a
school bus, school activity bus, or multifunction school activity bus. An
employer shall not require or permit a driver who is disqualified to drive a
school bus, school activity bus, or multifunction school activity bus.
(1) A school bus driver is disqualified for
the duration of the driver's loss of his/her privilege to operate a motor
vehicle either temporarily or permanently, by reason of the revocation,
suspension, withdrawal, or denial of an operator's license, permit, or
privilege until that operator's license, permit, or privilege is restored by
the authority that revoked, suspended, withdrew, or denied it.
(2) A school bus driver who receives a notice
that his/her license, permit, or privilege to operate a motor vehicle has been
revoked, suspended, or withdrawn shall notify the employer that employs him/her
of the contents of the notice before the end of the business day following the
day the driver received it.
(h) Mandatory Disqualifying Offenses. A
person shall be considered disqualified from operating a school bus, school
activity bus, or multifunction school activity bus for:
(1) A conviction of the offenses detailed in
this paragraph within the 10-year period preceding the date of the check of the
person's driving record:
(A) Texas Penal
Code, §
49.04; or
(B) Texas Penal Code, §
49.045; or
(C) Texas Penal Code, §
49.07; or
(D) Texas Penal Code, §
49.08.
(2) A suspension,
disqualification, or prohibition order issued as a result of any
alcohol-related or drug-related enforcement contact, as defined in the Texas
Transportation Code, §
524.001, during
the ten years preceding the date of the check of the person's driving
record.
(i) Credit for
concurrent suspension arising from same drug or alcohol-related incident. If a
criminal conviction occurs that arises out of the same arrest as the
Administrative License Revocation suspension/disqualification, the
disqualification period arising out of the same arrest shall not be longer than
ten years.
Notes
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