School buses. They carry precious
cargo everyday while those children
are our number one priority who
was looking out for those of us
driving alongside those buses?
Is that driver paying attention
to what is going on outside of
that school bus 10 investigation
for Titus discovers some bus
drivers with questionable driving
records are still behind the wheel.
OK, so let me show you something.
This big yellow school bus.
It's safe for the children,
the driver inside.
But what about you over here?
Are you safe?
What is that bus doesn't stop
when they're supposed to?
What happens to that bus driver?
If this happens to you just because
they may be at fault doesn't mean
they are taken off the road.
On Fire Rescue. My reference
is corneal driving Amber Rd.
Oh my God. See the paramedic as soon as
possible, but I'm shocked that he's alive.
I heard it, I just I heard it all.
The sound was unreal. It was just like.
But I knew because I heard it that I was OK.
I miss my dog every day.
Every day there's not a day
that I don't think about him.
Rex was one of Sierra
Middletons 2 service dogs.
He and her other service dog
Bo were in the car with her
when her crash happened.
Both survived. Rex did not
and I just keep thinking.
Like why didn't he stop?
Why didn't he see me?
Because if he did.
Rex would still be here, you know?
The bus driver we've learned has been
involved in other accidents before
his records show he hit an awning,
a light pole, and another car.
In other past incidents, 10 Investigates,
discovered some drivers behind the
wheel of these big yellow school buses
had multiple crashes on the record.
For instance, in Polk County we found one
driver had two crashes in just two weeks
and we asked the district about that.
They told us those accidents were
small and Manatee County one driver had
five accidents before they were fired.
How does that
happen that they weren't
terminated prior to that?
I wouldn't be able to address that
because I wasn't here at the time.
Jamie Wharington is only a few months on
the job as the transportation director
for Manatee County Public Schools.
I know that each school district is
required to have a safe driver plan.
And each district does what's
that look like a point system.
Certain traffic violations are
worth a certain number of points,
but it's not universal.
The points are different from
one district to the next,
and then the number of points you
rack up determines discipline.
A few points in some districts
results in a written warning multiple
in a year could mean a suspension,
even termination.
911 What is he?
We just witnessed a car hit a bus,
a school bus, and the car is
actually underneath the school bus.
The driver, troopers say,
was responsible for this deadly
crash in Pasco County and the
car just slammed right into it,
was suspended twice before.
What does?
That's a do you think to parents
who trust that you guys have the
safest drivers out on the road.
Well, what I'd like to discuss
is the system that we have in
place to make sure that our bus
drivers are held accountable.
We have a system in place that
is the safe Driver Committee.
So if you have any kind of
an incident on your bus,
even if it's not your fault,
we hold drivers accountable.
But that accountability
could come weeks or even
months after the accident.
10 Investigates requested the reports
from districts across the Bay Area
for the past year looking for drivers
who have points against their records
like this report showing a driver
speeding at 67 mph in a 45 zone.
What else gets points?
Reckless driving, driving too fast
for conditions following too closely?
Hillsborough County Schools
suspended a driver for three days
after changing his bus route.
Why did he change it to
stop by his child daycare?
Do you think the point system works
for bus drivers? A committee of
knowledgeable people look at it.
They look at all the facts of
the case and they decide this
driver needs additional training.
This driver was not at fault.
This driver actually has to sit at home and.
You know, be suspended,
but access to those reports is
expensive in some school districts.
Some were asking for hundreds of
dollars to pull the records because
they weren't readily available.
That includes Manatee County.
OK, well, I have not seen the
actual spreadsheet. That's just
what I've been told, is how it is.
Have you gone back at all since you've
been here looking at any of those drivers
records for drivers that may
have had multiple accidents,
multiple suspensions,
seeing if that they should still
be behind the wheel or not.
I have not done.
Yet I would like to do it at some point.
Right now I'm just trying to streamline
processes making sure that we have
policies and procedures in place.
Burlington says he has also been busy
hiring for the bus driver shortage.
Other districts are dealing
with that shortage as well.
The shortage. Does it oversee
the safety of the drivers?
It is well known that we
have a bus driver shortage,
as does Hillsborough,
Pinellas and everybody else.
It has not changed our standards at all.
We we regularly train our drivers,
which takes them off the off the road.
Sierra says nothing will bring Rex back.
I'm sorry and hopes more is done
to make sure the safest drivers.
Are behind the wheel of the school buses.
I would hope that they.
Do more due diligence in choosing
who they allow to drive buses.
Florida Statute also requires the
state to send each district weekly
records of any bus driver that
may have been cited for traffic
violation in their personal car.
We reached out to districts to get
access to those weekly records,
but we're told by most those records are
not easily accessible because they have
to go through those documents manually.