'Jesus Take the Wheel Act' passes House

House members on Thursday passed a bill exempting mid-sized church buses from the state's commercial driver's license requirements, prompting one lawmaker to call it the "Jesus Take the Wheel Act."

The bill, HB 132, would help congregations lacking a CDL-certified driver transport up to 30 passengers in a church-owned vehicle. Although applying equally to all churches, it's primarily aimed at smaller congregations with fewer members and financial resources.

It now heads to the Senate for consideration.

"This just allows small churches, some don't have people with commercial licenses at all, and they can pick a person to drive the bus," said state Rep. Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez, who chairs the Transportation Committee which had passed the bill earlier in the session.

Current law requires CDL-certified drivers for any vehicle transporting more than 16 passengers, including the driver. The bill would amend that law to exempt church buses designed to carry 30 passengers or less.

Some questioned the exemption.

State Rep. Toby Barker, R-Hattiesburg, asked whether it would apply to vans carrying small children to youth camps or other events. It will.

Barker later tweeted the bill should be named the "Jesus Take the Wheel Act."

State Rep. Charles Young, D-Meridian, asked whether it also eliminates the need for a passenger transport endorsement, which most bus drivers in Mississippi need. It does.

When contacted by The Clarion-Ledger, longtime CDL-certified driver Troy Coll of Hattiesburg called the measure potentially dangerous.

"I think this bill is trading the safety of everyone on the road for the convenience of those operating church vehicles," Coll said. "Since the bill covers vehicles up to 30 passengers, we're not just talking vans with extra rows of seats – these are buses, with long frames and much larger blind spots than passenger vehicles."

Commercial certified bus drivers must pass a written test and a driving test and also must get a CDL Medical Card, which requires the driver pass a physical.

"Obtaining a CDL is not especially difficult," Coll said, "but the testing does increase the level of scrutiny on drivers, and the medical requirements prevent individuals with poor vision/hearing/motor control or untreated diabetes from driving large vehicles full of vulnerable passengers."

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, though, one of the most dangerous – and popular – church transport vehicles requires no certified driver at all. The fully loaded 15-passenger van has a high roll-over risk resulting in numerous fatalities nationwide, the NTSB said in a consumer warning.

Contact Emily Le Coz at elecoz@jackson.gannett.com or (601) 961-7249. Follow @emily_lecoz on Twitter.