Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Bill offers zero tolerance for bus drivers with alcohol

A Senate committee gave unanimous approval Friday to a bill that would prohibit school bus drivers from having any alcohol in their bodies — or in their possession.

Senators questioned whether the language in the bill, sponsored by Del. Ben Cline, R-Rockbridge County, actually would prohibit transporting children after just one drink. They decided it did.

Cline said the need for the bill arose when a bus driver in the Harrisonburg area had a drink or two at about lunchtime. An adult noticed him driving the bus on the wrong route. There was no accident and no one was hurt, but the adult smelled alcohol on the driver’s breath.

Police were called, and the driver was charged with child endangerment.

However, the driver blew only a 0.03 on the breath test — just below the 0.04 that would have made the driver guilty under the standard for commercial drivers’ licenses, which school bus drivers must have.

Cline’s bill, HB1353, would make anyone “who possesses or consumes an alcoholic beverage while operating a school bus … while transporting children … guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor,” punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a fine up to $2,500.

The Senate Committee on Rehabilitation and Social Services voted 15-0 to send the bill to the Senate floor. It already has been approved by the House of Delegates.

Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, asked whether the bill’s language about “possesses or consumes” would apply to a driver who had a drink before boarding the bus and didn’t carry the alcohol on board.

Both Cline and Sen. Richard Stuart, R-Montross, explained that if a person has alcohol in his system, the law deems that to be “constructive possession” of alcohol.

Stuart said it didn’t matter whether the alcohol was consumed two or three hours earlier.

A person who had a drink with dinner the night before wouldn’t still have alcohol in his or her system, Stuart said, but a person on a binge and drinking at 4 a.m. would still have alcohol in their system the next morning.

“That’s exactly what we’re trying to protect children from,” Stuart said.

“I’m surprised the law doesn’t already do that,” said Sen. Linda Puller, D-Fairfax, chairwoman of the committee.

source: Lynchburg News Advance

More Treatment & Detox Articles

New Research on the "European" Approach to Teenage Drinking

Should parents allow their teenage children to drink alcohol? Restaurants in Germany can legally sell alcohol to a teenager after his sixteenth birthday, and French children drink wine with dinner in the home starting at an early age. But U.S. parents who try to follow this relaxed European example, believing it fosters a healthier attitude….

Signs of Depression to Look Out For

Depression can actually impair an individual’s overall ability to function in their day to day lives, and can result in that individual feeling as if taking their life is the only way to escape the emotions of despair that are experienced. Depression is an issue that affects millions of individuals around the world. This is….

Daily alcohol limit ‘unhelpful’

Daily limits on alcohol consumption are meaningless and potentially harmful, experts have warned. The government says men should drink no more than three to four units per day and women no more than two to three. Liver specialist Dr Nick Sheron, of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK, says these limits were devised by civil servants….

Treatment for bulimia eating disorder

Most often, sufferers of bulimia do not seek medical help for improving their disorder, as they are ashamed or ignorant of their condition. Therefore, many times it is the parents, friends and the relatives of the sufferers, who need to be alert and on suspecting any symptoms of bulimia seek medical advice. The treatment for….

Red Watch Band friends don’t let friends get too drunk

When Suzanne Fields’ son died of an alcohol overdose last year, a few days after completing his first year of college, she decided she wanted to keep other students from suffering the same fate. “I thought at the time my son died that his death was preventable, that I wanted to do something to prevent….