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According to The Washington Post, traffic cameras in Washington, D.C. have captured school bus drivers both speeding and running red lights hundreds of times over recent years. However, unlike every other driver, schools have not had to pay for the numerous violations.
City records show that DC’s school bus drivers accrued 327 traffic camera tickets from January 2009 to March 2013, which equals to $34,745 in unpaid fines.
The Post reported that school bus drivers paid only about a dozen of the tickets during that time, and none faced disciplinary action for exceeding the city’s speed limits and entering intersections against opposing traffic, sometimes even with children on board. Over 20 school bus drivers caught speeding or running red lights also crashed their school buses.
One school bus was captured on camera speeding and running red lights six times in one month; another bus driver was ticketed for speeding five times in five months.
“That’s completely unacceptable,” stated John Matthews, the former transportation director for Montgomery County Public Schools. “If no one is holding them to account, then there’s no incentive for drivers to not speed and run red lights.”
School Bus Drivers Have To Be Held Accountable For Their Actions
Washington, D.C.’s school bus drivers hold our children’s lives in their hands, and bus drivers should be punished like any other driver on the road when they commit a traffic crime.
If you or your child has been injured by a negligent school bus driver, get legal help today. At Koonz, McKenney, Johnson & DePaolis L.L.P., we have successfully obtained compensation on behalf of victims that have been seriously injured or killed due to the negligence of others for 30 years.
Koonz’s Did You Know: Washington, D.C.’s school buses received tickets 16 times more frequently than the city’s Metro buses and other Metro vehicles.
Koonz, McKenney, Johnson & DePaolis L.L.P.
Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia Injury Attorneys