Mississippi allows NON CDL to drive church buses.."Jesus takes the wheel act"
- Thread starter asjssl
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Re: Mississippi allows NON CDL to drive church buses.."Jesus takes the wheel act"
The 100 air-mile allowance is for logging and has nothing to do with whether a CDL is required. I mentioned ambulance not because of how many clowns you can cram into one, but because it's an example of an exempt vehicle which does not require a CDL. I didn't mention but probably should have, military vehicles, some of which are huge, and farm vehicles, some of which are tractor-trailers, as well as U-haul and other rental trucks.
The DOT (state and federal) regulates vehicles which pose a risk to the general public, namely heavy trucks and buses.
Unless the church bus is a full size bus with a capacity of 60-90 people, and is instead one of the small ones that holds under 25 people it just doesn't present all that much of a risk to the general public or the passengers on the relatively infrequent short trips around town and the even less-frequent longer trips. Requiring church bus drivers to have a CDL is simply over-regulation that would have a neglible impact on safety.
As for opening a door for lawsuits, you're gonna have to explain that one to me as you would a child, because I don't get it. I just don't see anyone filing a lawsuit against a church because the church bus driver is abiding by the law of the state and is driving on a correct license. Sure, the ATA or somebody might sue the state to get the law changed, but if the state no longer offers CDLs for drivers of church buses, it's gonna be really hard to sue somebody because they don't have one.
The 100 air-mile allowance is for logging and has nothing to do with whether a CDL is required. I mentioned ambulance not because of how many clowns you can cram into one, but because it's an example of an exempt vehicle which does not require a CDL. I didn't mention but probably should have, military vehicles, some of which are huge, and farm vehicles, some of which are tractor-trailers, as well as U-haul and other rental trucks.
The DOT (state and federal) regulates vehicles which pose a risk to the general public, namely heavy trucks and buses.
Unless the church bus is a full size bus with a capacity of 60-90 people, and is instead one of the small ones that holds under 25 people it just doesn't present all that much of a risk to the general public or the passengers on the relatively infrequent short trips around town and the even less-frequent longer trips. Requiring church bus drivers to have a CDL is simply over-regulation that would have a neglible impact on safety.
As for opening a door for lawsuits, you're gonna have to explain that one to me as you would a child, because I don't get it. I just don't see anyone filing a lawsuit against a church because the church bus driver is abiding by the law of the state and is driving on a correct license. Sure, the ATA or somebody might sue the state to get the law changed, but if the state no longer offers CDLs for drivers of church buses, it's gonna be really hard to sue somebody because they don't have one.
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That's great...can people other than church organizations go..like parents from the local scout troop??
I think that Turtle might have a point IF.
The problem is that IF is a much bigger word than it appears.
IF the church bus is under 25 passenger. IF it never goes beyond, say, a thirty-mile range from its base. IF it's used mainly on city streets. Maybe. Just maybe. But, the first time the bus has to cross a couple of states-- as has been known to happen when the youth-group holds a jamboree-- you could have a problem IF the driver isn't bringing his "A" game to the bus-- and something happens. Now, a CDL doesn't guarantee that the driver is fit to drive on that trip-- but it does give one less thing for lawyers to target. If lawyers can show that the driver was untrained and unfit to drive a vehicle that size, then the church could have a bigger problem than trying to get a driver trained and certified on their hands.
At the very least, there needs to be some sort of certification for driving 15+ passenger vehicle simply because--let's face it, this ain't your mother's minivan. They handle different, enough different to be noticed.
The problem is that IF is a much bigger word than it appears.
IF the church bus is under 25 passenger. IF it never goes beyond, say, a thirty-mile range from its base. IF it's used mainly on city streets. Maybe. Just maybe. But, the first time the bus has to cross a couple of states-- as has been known to happen when the youth-group holds a jamboree-- you could have a problem IF the driver isn't bringing his "A" game to the bus-- and something happens. Now, a CDL doesn't guarantee that the driver is fit to drive on that trip-- but it does give one less thing for lawyers to target. If lawyers can show that the driver was untrained and unfit to drive a vehicle that size, then the church could have a bigger problem than trying to get a driver trained and certified on their hands.
At the very least, there needs to be some sort of certification for driving 15+ passenger vehicle simply because--let's face it, this ain't your mother's minivan. They handle different, enough different to be noticed.
You really think under 25 is OK but a 26 passenger bus is inherently more of a problem? Don't fixate on the number 25. It was chosen at random to mean "less than a full size bus."
I don't think there's a whole lot of difference between 30 and 35 miles, either. The key word you're missing is "occasional." It's not like there are millions of these church buses churning up the miles out there. They're on the road infrequently and, generally speaking, not for very long.
"A" game or not, the first time the bus crosses a state line it's now operating interstate instead of intrastate and the federal DOT regulations are in effect.
If you're talking interstate, then the lawyers will have field day, but they'll have to stand in line to wait until the US DOT gets through with them. If you're talking intrastate, then untrained and unfit would apply in the same manner that it would apply to someone driving a Prius.
And yet there are no certifications for farm tractor-trailers that operate intrastate during harvest season. Why? Because despite those tractor-trailers not being your mother's minivan, either, they aren't a problem that needs regulating. Neither are those large RVs.
There needs to be a tangible reason of safety to regulate something. If there isn't one, the regulations should be removed. It's kind of like why cargo vans aren't regulated, it's because there's no tangible reason to do so.
weird time for church....accidents happen.....