By Luis De Jesus
Sep 23, 2023, 9:07 PM EDT
The transportation company that owns the school bus that was involved in the tragic accident in New York’s Orange County, which occurred on September 21, had not passed several safety tests since 2022. The local Department of Transportation declared the company as “not unacceptable operator” and, even so, it continued to provide service.
Joseph Morrissey, a spokesman for the state agency, reported Friday that records show Regency Transportation Ltd. failed five of 15 inspections during the last fiscal year.
The unit included 40 students who belong to the Farmingdale High School band and four adults. They were traveling from Long Island to a camp in Pennsylvania. The accident caused the death of two teachers, Gina Pellettiere and Beatrice Ferrari, and left the rest of the passengers injured, many of them in critical condition.
Gov. Kathy Hochul reported at the time that the bus fell down a 50-foot ravine after crashing into a wire guardrail in Wawayanda, about 75 miles from New York.
Morrissey explained that the bus was new to the fleet and the first time the NYC Department of Transportation inspected it was last August. He indicated that the unit passed the semi-annual inspection and four other random road tests since 2021.
As reviewed cnn, citing the Transportation agency, the company had an out-of-service rate of 33% in fiscal year 2023, for which it was classified as unacceptable. Therefore, it had to undergo two comprehensive safety inspections every year. Additionally, it could be subject to a variety of corrective actions, including notices of violation leading to civil penalties and suspension or revocation of interstate operating authority.
The official confirmed to the news network that other Regency Transportation buses failed seven safety inspections in the past two years. He pointed out that most of its failures were related to the braking systems. Those, Morrissey claimed, were taken out of circulation until the operator rectified them and they were inspected again. Other problems that some of the units had were record keeping and the rear axle.
What happened to the bus involved in the tragic accident in New York, according to various sources, was that a front tire had defects.
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