School Bus/Dump Truck Collision-I-80 Near Mount Olive,New Jersey

I just drove past mile marker 25 and it looks like the guardrail has been replaced and there's a wooden cross right in the middle

 

Well s***, that didn't take long at all.

Anything to sweep it under the rug.

 

Driver of fatal New Jersey school bus crash had history of speeding tickets, license suspensions

 

Very sensationalized headline. I'm listening to 101.5 right now and they brought up these figures as well.

Assuming he got his license at age 16, that's one ticket every 7.625 years. The suspensions were monetary and not due to driving violations.

 

i was just reading that on my home page, and was going to link it here.

what da hell is a 77 year old doing, driving a school bus..????????

there really NEEDS to be a cut off point, like say, 68..???

then he gets hired with so many infractions..??

i really think the state ought to go after him FULL THROTTLE.

not to mention all the civil suits against him as well.

that JERK, KILLED and INJURED so many that day, due to HIS STUPIDITY...

 

I recall hearing that this is actually pretty common. Retired folks getting bored looking for something to keep themselves occupied.

Here's a snippet from a 2013 article from CBS news in Ft. Worth, TX.

"We have learned the driver is one of two 85-year-old drivers working for Dallas County Public Schools, the bus company that serves Dallas ISD. Fifty-three bus drivers are over 75-years-old. Twelve of those are over 80-year-old... ...At Fort Worth ISD, who operates their own bus service, four of the drivers are over 75-years-old."

IMO, max age for a bus driver should be the same as a commercial pilot: 67.

 

scary to be thinking, if that moron drives a bus like that, how many near misses did he have?

and equally scary is how does he drive his car????

 

When I drove a school bus, it was $125/week. 5 days, with a morning and afternoon route each day. Worked out great because I was in college...I'd drive the morning route, go to my own classes, drive the afternoon route, then go to my other job. A little extra cash for a couple hours per day working in my spare time between my other activities.

It isn't a "career" type job, though. Typically you find housewives and retired folks that just want to get out of the house and earn a little extra cash, or other school employees such as lunch ladies and janitors who have their mornings and afternoons available.

As for putting a maximum age, that isn't likely to happen. Why? Because parents vote. If the school cannot find enough drivers to run the bus routes, parents will be inconvenienced having to get their kids to school in the morning and pick them up in the afternoon...or pay higher taxes to support higher salaries to attract more drivers. Do you really think the voters are going to vote for either scenario? Not likely...and if you are in an elected office and you make that decision for them, you'll probably be out of a job yourself next election. Hell, I was listening to the radio this morning while they were talking about a 4 day school week...said pilot programs that tried it showed happier teachers, more attentive students, better grades, and better scores on standardized tests. The problem was, despite all of the benefits, +70% of parents tended to oppose such a measure. Why? Because they'd have to make arrangements for child care on that 5th day the kids were no longer in school. As long as the parents vote overwhelmingly not to be inconvenienced, the politicians will never pass legislation that will cause inconvenience to the parents...because doing so will end their political career. #1 job of any politician is to get re-elected...not going to happen if you piss off the voters.

 

I think the parents ought to go after the school district who would hire such a sorry excuse for a bus driver. I feel pretty sure if you looked long and hard at their entire driver pool, you would probably find similar issues with at least 20% of them.

I get finding exceptionally well qualified drivers to do a poor paying job such as drive busses part time, in the numbers they need, is not easy. But boo hoo. Everybody has to remain accountable for their actions and their hires, no matter. Yes, hang the driver too, but only before they hang the others in the chain that led to this.

 

just now said on the cbs evening news....1 ticket for reckless driving..>!!!!!