A state law that would require school buses to be outfitted with an alarm system to ensure passengers are not forgotten on the vehicles — a proposal prompted by the death of a 19-year-old autistic Whittier man — is on its way to Gov. Jerry Brown after receiving final approval Friday from the state Senate.
“With today’s vote, we are one step closer to protecting every child who rides a school bus to and from school every day,” Mendoza said. “SB 1072 will prevent future tragedies by requiring every school bus in the state to be equipped with a child-safety alarm system. No parent should fear that their child will not return home safely at the end of the day.”
The alarm system generates a noise when the bus is turned off, and the driver must walk to the rear of the bus to turn it off, ensuring that the vehicle is checked to determine if any children are still on board.
The bill is named the “Paul Lee School Bus Safety Law,” named in memory of Hun Joon “Paul” Lee, who was found dead inside a school bus parked at a Whittier bus yard on Sept. 11, 2015.
The bus driver, Armando Abel Ramirez, 37, has been charged with a felony count of dependent adult abuse resulting in death.
Prosecutors contend Ramirez failed to check the bus after dropping off students in the morning, and failed to realize that Lee was still on the vehicle when he parked and locked it at the bus yard in the midst of a late-summer heat wave.
— City News Service