No vehicle shall be used by any school district within this state for the transportation of school children on or after the beginning of the 1968-69 school year, unless such vehicle be equipped with a safety belt or safety harness for the use of the driver of such vehicle. Such seat belt and safety harness shall conform to such standards as may be prescribed. The Department of Public Safety shall prescribe standards, and each seat belt or safety harness used in such vehicle shall conform thereto. The Department of Public Safety shall provide the State Board of Education with a detailed description of the standards prescribed and the said Board shall furnish a copy of such standards to the board of education of each school district. The driver of every vehicle used by a school district for the transportation of school children shall make use of such seat belts while in operation of the vehicle, and failure to do so shall be deemed to constitute a misdemeanor, and upon conviction therefor such driver shall be punished by a fine of not less than Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) nor more than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).

Laws 1971, c. 281, § 24-121, eff. July 2, 1971.