Mike Davis

@byMikeDavis

State lawmakers want you to squeal on bad school bus drivers.

Prompted by reports of speeding and swerving school buses, legislators are preparing a bill that would give motorists a tool to report offending yellow bus drivers.

The legislation would require a "how's my driving?" sticker to be placed on school buses, similar to those placed on the backs of commercial trucks and state vehicles.

The sticker would include a phone number motorists could call to report anything about a particular school bus.

MORE: None hurt in school bus crash

"That will affect their insurance rates," said Bradley Beach resident Beth Kepler, who founded the grassroots Reform NJ School Busing group last year. "That’s enough to make bus companies look at how safe their bus drivers are. Right now, it’s a free-for-all. When you hit their bottom line, the accountability will be self-monitored.”

The state Department of Transportation would have the authority to review and forward the complaints, but Assemblyman Sean Kean said the DOT would likely hire a contractor to review them.

"It's the right time," said Kean, the bill's primary sponsor. "I know how tough it is for businesses without having to put new obligations on them. But this is about little kids."

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Kean, R-Wall, said the bus companies he'd spoken to were largely in favor of such an action. "They want to know who the bad operators are," he said.

If passed into law, the stickers would be placed on all public and private school buses. But in large part, the complaints come from parents and students riding school buses operated by private carriers.

Kean's bill was inspired by complaints from Kepler after her daughter's bus driver allegedly was seen texting while driving students to Holy Innocents school in Neptune. Her observations were picked up in a News 12 report.

In the two weeks after her daughter took photos of the driver, Kepler followed the school bus every day and claimed that it traveled over speed bumps too fast. At one point, she said, the bus turned so fast it almost tipped over.

Seman Tov, the private school bus carrier operating the Bradley Beach bus, told News 12 New Jersey in October that it had reviewed the driver's phone records and determined she wasn't texting or calling during the trip. The company filed a cease-and-desist complaint against Kepler in December.

READ: Seman-Tov bus company accused of unsafe conditions

Another video, showing a Lakewood school bus swerving and nearly colliding with a FedEx truck, went viral in 2016, adding more impetus for lawmakers to act.

In order to drive a school bus, drivers must go through federal and state background checks, in addition to obtaining a commercial and passenger driver's license.

Mike Davis: 732-643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com