BUS LAW 101

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DEAR BUCKY,
I never thought these letters were real, but now I know that they are. I attend a larger than average midwestern university. Yesterday, me and my buddies were sitting around our dorm room, downing beers, when there was a knock on our door. When I opened it, much to my surprise I found three naked Swedish stewardesses and the only words they knew in English were, "Hi, Studs." But my question for you is this: WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR A SCHOOL BUS TO LEGALLY BECOME A 'RECREATIONAL VEHICLE'? And, just as importantly, why do I care whether my bus is titled as a bus or as an RV?
Signed,
Lost in Toledo

DEAR TOLEDO,
Glad that you asked, because as it turns out my buddy Skooly Pete had the opportunity to ask some Government Officials that very question. Read on.
Du gama, du fria, du haga nord,
Bucky

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DATELINE: May 23, 2006.
PLACE: (MARYLAND) MOTOR VEHICLE ADMINISTRATION.

Skooly Pete was down at the MVA yesterday taking care of some general registration stuff for his pick-up truck. While he was waiting (which, basically speaking, is what folks mostly do at the MD-MVA), he found a person to talk to about re-titling a school bus as an RV. Turns out that it's particularly easy to do, at least here in Maryland. All your RV needs to do is to provide "temporary living quarters" and meet four of the following seven requirements:

- have cooking facilities
- have a self-contained toilet
- potable water supply including faucet and sink
- refrigeration or icebox
- heating and/or air conditioning
- electrical supply
- lp gas supply

[CLICK HERE TO SEE ACTUAL LEGAL REFERENCE (COMAR 11.15.03.01)]

There are, however, absolutely no details as to what these various requirements mean, and thus (for all indications) it seems to be entirely up to the registrant as to what qualifies as a "cooking facilit[y]," a "self contained toilet," etc.

Put another way, one could in good faith argue that a microwave, a 5 gallon bucket (toilet), a cooler, and a battery+invertor (i.e., electrical supply to power the microwave) would seem to be all that are necessary to qualify.

Other than that, it's just a matter of removing the seats, covering over the flashing lights, and painting something the vehicle another color other than "school bus yellow."

We posited Toledo's question to our team of Skooly attorneys (motto: "We wear suits in the shower") and this is what they told us. "Motor homes" (which is what we are talking about here) are governed by §11-134.3 of the Transportation article of the Maryland Annotated Code. This statute provides as follows: " 'Motor home' means a motor vehicle that is designed and constructed primarily to provide living quarters for recreational, camping, or travel use."

You MUST paint your retired school bus (at least, in Maryland you do) because, under §22-418(b) of the Transportation article (titled: "School vehicles; yellow color"), "Unless otherwise permitted or authorized by the Maryland Vehicle Law or by [MVA] regulation, no other vehicle designed for carrying passengers may be painted national school bus yellow or a closely approximate color [other than an actual school bus]."

As for "Why do I care whether my vehicle is titled as a bus or as an RV?", I have two answers for you. First, in many states, you need a special license to drive a bus. Not so, an RV. Second, insuring a bus could be EXTREMELY expensive; insuring an RV, even if it is registered in a big city, can be as little as $300 per year. That's why, Snowball.

Rock on!