An original applicant for a certificate to drive any bus defined by Section 546 or 642 of the Vehicle Code shall have successfully completed a minimum 35-hour course of instruction. The course shall include at least 15 hours of classroom instruction, including, but not limited to, all units of the Instructor’s Manual for California’s Bus Driver’s Training Course, or other classroom curricula which the department has certified meets or exceeds the standards in its curricula. All classroom instruction shall be given by, or in the presence of, a state-certified instructor of the appropriate class, except that an instructor who has received a certificate as described in subdivision (d) of Section 40081, may provide the training for an original applicant for a certificate to drive a bus defined by Section 642 of the Vehicle Code. The course shall also include at least 20 hours of applicant behind-the-wheel training in all sections of the Instructor’s Behind-the-Wheel Guide for California’s Bus Driver’s Training Course, or at least 20 hours of other behind-the-wheel training or driving experience that the department has certified meets or exceeds the standards of its training course. Applicant behind-the-wheel training shall include driving vehicles comparable to those vehicles that will be used to transport passengers. All behind-the-wheel training for a certificate to drive a bus defined by Section 546 of the Vehicle Code shall be given by a state-certified instructor of the appropriate class or the delegated behind-the-wheel trainer as designated pursuant to Section 40084.5. All behind-the-wheel training for a certificate to drive a bus defined by Section 642 of the Vehicle Code shall be given by a state-certified instructor of the appropriate class or the delegated behind-the-wheel trainer as designated pursuant to Section 40084.5, or the delegated behind-the-wheel trainer as designated by the instructor certified pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 40081.

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 646, Sec. 14. Effective January 1, 2000.)