Should Sex Offenders Be Banned from Driving Buses?
A proposed state law would ban those on Georgia’s sexual offender registry from obtaining commercial driver’s licenses for school buses or passenger vehicles such as charter buses. Tell us if you would like to see the bill passed.
A proposed state law could keep those on Georgia’s sexual offender registry from getting behind the wheel of certain vehicles.
House Bill 40, whose primary sponsor is Rep. Paul Battles, R-Cartersville, would prohibit sex offenders from obtaining two types of commercial driver’s licenses. If passed, those who are placed on the sexual offender registry for crimes committed after July 1 of this year would not be able to obtain a CDL with a school bus (S) endorsement or a passenger (P) endorsement, the latter of which applies to charter buses or vehicles designed to seat more than 16 people, including its driver.
Those with P or S endorsements on a license issued before July 1 of this year would not be disqualified from seeking license renewals unless they are convicted of an offense that occurred after July 1 and requires registration on the sex offender list.
“It would be a total restriction on any transportation of children. This just protects them against the possibility of someone committing another crime,” Battles told CBS Atlanta.
But the bill is not needed as state law already prevents those on the offender registry from being around minors, legal and constitutional expert Page Pate told the CBS affiliate. He added that the law, if passed, likely could hold up in court, as those who can currently drive a bus would still be allowed to do so.
A copy of the proposed bill is attached to this article as a PDF.
Should lawmakers pass the bill?
Share what’s on your mind with us, and then return here to see what your neighbors in Paulding, Douglas and Cobb have said.
Robert Hungate
7:51 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Sex offenders have no business anywhere around children, much less even being considered as a candidate to drive a school bus! We don't need a law; just common sense.
Deanna Riddlespur
8:37 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Umm they should already have put a stop to this.. and people over the age of 65 have no business driving a bus, I think as people get older they should have attitude checks to make sure they still need to be on the road, there are so many older drivers that just do not pay attention to what is going on outside the car and they think because they are older they do not have to yield to pedestrians or cyclist, Once they start getting bitter, they should have no driving privileges. Im just saying look at the guy that was killed last year in paulding by a bus driver hit and run i might add and the guy killed was a preacher.. im just saying.. along with other people that have been injured, myself included by a man that was 82 years old and did not yield to the right of way and almost just ran off without checking on me and was mad because i got in his way .. serious..
Peggy Hall
9:13 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
In Georgia, they would have to load the bus away from the school. I believe there is a law banning a convicted sex offender from being anywhere around a school. How in the world could they be a school bus driver????????
Pam J
10:29 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Not everybody on the sex offender list is a child molester. In fact, someone told me that most of them are not. With that being said, I have a problem with the "list". You can attack someone with your fists, a knife, a gun or something else, spend some time in jail, get out and get on with your life. You can live anywhere you want. Your debt to society has been paid. Granted, you will still have to list that arrest on job applications and such, but you really have no limitations on you as long as you behave yourself. But if you sexually molest someone, you are on a list, that everybody can see, for the rest of your life. If you had one conviction, you are on that list. I knew a guy, several years ago, who got drunk and was on some kind of medication, and he sexually assaulted a woman. He didn't remember it and it was so out of character for him to do that, but he spent a few years in prison and now he is on a list for the rest of his life. Now, if a person molests a child, that is a different story.
Brian
12:02 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
Pam J, I don't see how you can say a woman getting assaulted is not as bad as a child getting molested.
Robert Hungate
9:39 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
This article isn't about age, it's about perverts being around children.
Rich "The Equalizer" Pellegrino
1:01 pm on Wednesday, February 6, 2013
I agree with Pam that we have to be careful labeling anyone. Youth who were 18 and had consensual sex with a 17 yr old are on the sex offender list.
Charles Schwable
1:21 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Richard,
If you get cited for public urination in Cobb you have to register as a sex offender!
Jon
11:41 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Charles, do you have a link or some other citation about that? I've heard it before, but I've never seen anything to convince me that it's more than an urban legend.
Charles Schwable
1:06 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Duh! have a provision to this new law were they can at least work and survive, granted the "Yard Apes" clause, or kids should be protected, but let them work cross country as truck driver or a Greyhound driver.
William Compton
9:30 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
yes pass it
Brian
11:59 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
All we need is more people on welfare because they can't get jobs. Keep them away from school busses, but let them drive trucks.