LANSING, Mich. (WOOD) — Two days before Paul and Nancee Privacky mark the sixth anniversary of their children’s death, they celebrated the passage of a bill bearing their name.
They hope the Privacky Law, more formally known as House Bill 4054, will prevent other families from going through what they’ve been through.
On Dec. 14, 2011, 16-year-old Bruce Privacky was driving his 13-year-old sister Antonia home from school when they crashed into the back of a Coopersville school bus that was preparing to stop. They were killed instantly.
“It’s a really appropriate time for it to pass,” Nancee Privacky said of the bill that was approved by the state Senate in a 513-38 vote Tuesday afternoon. “Hopefully nobody else will have to feel the pain that we do.”
It’s been a long road to get to this point. State Rep. Holly Hughes, R-Montague, first introduced the measure in 2012, but it never made it to the House floor for a vote. Three terms later, she stepped away from the House chamber and into the Senate chamber to watch it pass.
“Thank God for Nancee and Paul Privacky hanging in there because it’s been three terms since we’ve been trying to get this bill passed and it’s finally complete,” Hughes said. “Now, it’ll help keep kids safe across the state of Michigan, and I think someday across the country.”
The legislation will allow school districts to put driver alert systems on the back of buses. The signs flash “Caution: Slowing” as the bus gets ready to stop and “Stop: Do not pass” when the bus is stopped.
A study from 2015 helped convince lawmakers of the effectiveness of the signs. It involved 10 school districts, including several in West Michigan. The study found that when the signs were in use, 49 percent fewer people illegally passed school buses from back to front, which is when the most crashes occur that injure children.
Full Story on WOODTV8