New video, photos of incidents involving school buses in the Hudson Valley continue to raise safety concerns
The person who took the video saw News 12’s reports about reckless school bus drivers in Ramapo and said the incident occurred on Wednesday in Orange County.
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News 12 has obtained new dashcam video showing two school buses cutting off a vehicle and running a red light on Route 208 and Seven Springs Mountain Road in Blooming Grove.
The person who took the video saw News 12’s reports about reckless school bus drivers in Ramapo and said the incident occurred on Wednesday in Orange County.
Another viewer sent News 12 photos of a school bus accident at the intersection of Oxford Depot and Craigville Road that was also on Wednesday in Blooming Grove.
Monroe-Woodbury school officials say the district bus collided with a car while middle school kids were onboard. It's unclear what led up to the crash, but school officials say no one was hurt. News 12 is trying to reach police for more details.
The incidents are worrisome for AAA spokesperson Alec Slatky.
“It’s unacceptable. It’s especially disturbing when it’s coming from a vehicle that’s carrying our most precious cargo,” says Slatky.
Federal data shows an average of 13 pedestrians are hit each year by school buses nationwide, but there were four incidents in four months involving kids this year in Ramapo alone – two that were deadly.
Ramapo officials say they’re cracking down on unsafe school bus driving.
News 12 spoke to one Rockland bus driver who asked to stay anonymous.
“Monsey, Monroe, New Square, Spring Valley. Buses {are} letting off kids without their lights on, buses passing buses,” says the driver. “It’s way out of hand.”
Ramapo police say the school bus driver who struck and injured a child in Monsey in April was ticketed for passing another school bus during the incident. They say another driver was issued multiple tickets and fired for striking and injuring a 6-year-old child in Monsey in March.
In each of the four Ramapo cases of children struck, authorities say the drivers were operating buses for private schools.
