Senate Bill 1596 would upgrade the offense of using a portable electronic device while driving or operating a school bus from a Class C misdemeanor under Tennessee’s criminal code to a Class A misdemeanor, according to the Knoxville News Sentinal.
It stems from a Knoxville school bus crash that killed two children and a teacher’s assistant. Investigators concluded the driver, who died of natural causes last June, was reading a text when his speeding bus carrying 22 children crossed highway and collided with another bus carrying 18 children and the teacher’s aide.
The bill specifies that a conviction after July 1, 2016, is punishable by at least 30 days in jail, a fine of at least $1,000 and a court order permanently banning the driver from operating a school bus in Tennessee.
