79-608 Students; transportation; buses; operator; requirements; violation; penalty. - Nebraska Statutes

79-608. Students;transportation; buses; operator; requirements; violation; penalty.(1) Any person,before operating a school bus, including any school bus whichtransports students by direct contractwith the students or their parentsand not owned by or under contract with the school district or nonpublic school, shall submit himself or herself to (a) an examination,to be conducted by a driver's license examiner of the Department of MotorVehicles, to determine his or her qualifications to operate such bus and (b)an examination by a licensed physician to determine whether or not he or shemeets the physical and mental standards established pursuant to section 79-607and shall furnish to the school board or board of education or the governingauthority of a nonpublic school and to the Director of Motor Vehicles a writtenreport of each such examination on standard forms prescribed by the StateDepartment of Education, signed by the person conducting the same, showingthat he or she is qualified to operate a school bus and that he or she meetsthe physical and mental standards. If the Director of Motor Vehicles determinesthat the person is so qualified and meets such standards, the director shall issue to the person a specialschool bus operator's permit,which shall expire each year on the date of birth of the holder, insuch form as the director prescribes. Nocontract shall be entered into until such permit has been received and exhibitedto the school board or the governing authority of a nonpublic school.The holder of such permit shall have it on his or her person at all timeswhile operating a school bus.(2) It shall be unlawful for any person operating a schoolbus to be or remain on duty for a longer period than sixteen consecutive hours.When any person operating a bus has been continuously on duty for sixteenhours, he or she shall be relieved and not be permitted or required to againgo on duty without having at least ten consecutive hours' rest off duty, andno such operator, who has been on duty sixteen hours in the aggregate in anytwenty-four-hour period, shall be required or permitted to continue or againgo on duty without having had at least eight consecutive hours off duty.(3) Any person violating this section shall be guilty ofa Class V misdemeanor. His or her contract with the school district shallbe canceled as provided in section 79-607. SourceLaws 1963, c. 460, § 1, p. 1488; Laws 1965, c. 523, § 3, p. 1653; Laws 1971, LB 292, § 13; Laws 1973, LB 358, § 2; Laws 1977, LB 39, § 251; Laws 1989, LB 285, § 142; Laws 1990, LB 980, § 35; R.S.1943, (1994), § 79-488.06; Laws 1996, LB 900, § 369; Laws 2009, LB549, § 24.AnnotationsA school bus driver's contract is valid and enforceable if he complies with the statutory requirements before operating a bus, notwithstanding a failure to fully comply before the contract was entered into. Rase v. Southeast Nebraska Consol. School Dist., 190 Neb. 800, 212 N.W.2d 629 (1973).