New Orleans Bus Accidents News

Pastor Violating Social Distancing Guidelines Arrested for Nearly Backing Bus Into Protestor

The national news has been reporting on Louisiana pastor Tony Spell and his violations of the coronavirus outbreak. Now he has been arrested for nearly backing into a protestor with a church bus. CBS News reports on the arrest. The pastor turned himself in after police issued an arrest warrant. He has been cited with aggravated assault and improper backing. Police say he also has other outstanding warrants in nearby cities. Because his charges involve violence, he will be booked into prison. Video shows the pastor accelerating in reverse and stopping short of a protestor. People have been protesting near the church due to the social distancing violations. There have also been others waiting to see what the police will do. The pastor admitted that he was driving the bus and wanted to confront the protestor, but his wife stopped him. The pastor says that the protestor was showing obscenities, but the protestor denies it. He just wants the church closed down like everything else right now to keep the community safe. The pastor believes that the virus is “politically motivated” and that the shutdowns are an attack on religious liberties. He says that his assistant pastors will step in and run services in defiance of the ban. Time will tell if that will happen.

Bus Inspections Near 100% Compliance, But Aren’t There Yet

The Orleans Parish public school district has been on notice for failing buses this year. They had until later this month to get all of the buses properly inspected and licensed. They are near that goal, but for districts still have failing buses according to NOLA.com. 96% of the buses now pass, and the superintendent has given the remaining four schools an extension because they “have demonstrated significant progress”. The schools have said they expect the repairs and inspections to be complete by the end of February or March. There are also signs that bus regulations are also getting enforced more often now that the city has taken over the task. Back in December, only 58% of school buses had proper permits. Enforcement has been difficult because each school was self-regulating until recently. A new working group has been formed to look for long-term solutions to the problem. After the horrific accident in December that injured nine students after a bus overturned, we are glad that the city has stepped in to take control of the situation. Improved inspections and regulation of bus drivers will help keep students safer on the roads. Hopefully there won’t be another case like that ever again.

Dozens of School Bus Drivers Did Not Have Proper Permits Last Year

WWL-TV has been performing an on-going investigation into the problems with school bus safety in New Orleans. Part of their findings showed that even after three months into the school year, one out of every five school bus drivers did not have the proper permits. Yet the city and the schools are still dragging their feet. WWL-TV reports. 95 drivers failed to get a permit before the deadline in November, but now the city has reported that only 19 of those have gotten a permit since then and five were rejected for drug or criminal screens. The permits were required after an investigation by WWL-TV found extensive problems with the school bus system. The city required drivers to get a CDL, pass background checks, and get 44 hours of state-approved bus driver training in the wake of that report. However, the school bus operators delayed their testing and the city is afraid to pull buses off the roads for fear of children not getting to school. Problems got worse when a major accident on the I-10 High Rise bridge sent 15 students to the hospital. The superintendent has sent a warning to 13 charter school organizations to get their buses to pass inspection. For more details on the investigation, check out the full report at the link above.

Neither Bus Nor Driver Should Have Been on the Road

The maintenance of school buses is a big concern right now for New Orleans. There have been several crashes that showed the problems with the current system. Here is an example from last month by WBRZ. At the bottom of the I-10 High Rise, a school bus overturned near Louisa Street. Nine students from James Singleton Charter School were injured in the crash and taken to local hospitals, at least one of them in serious condition. The bus fell over onto its left side in the far left lane. Later investigation showed two big problems with the situation. First, the bus had not passed inspection according to the law. The second was that the driver should never have been on the road in the first place. He was denied a driving permit because he had a cocaine possession conviction. He was cited for careless operation of the bus. Parents should not hesitate to contact a personal injury attorney if their child is injured on a bus. We trust bus drivers and school districts to do everything in their power to keep kids safe. While it is unreasonable to demand perfect safety, flagrant violations like this need to be punished so that schools and drivers take their responsibilities seriously. Fortunately, the city is pushing hard to get all of the buses reinspected under a new plan. This should increase safety.

Fraternity Bus Catches Fire After Running Over Debris

Most car fires do not happen because of accidents. They happen due to mechanical and electrical failures. But a recent fire in a charter bus may have been caused by debris that fell off of another vehicle. Magnolia State Live reported on the incident. A fleet of charter buses was leaving New Orleans from a formal hosted by the Sigma Chi fraternity. They were on I-59 when one of the buses caught fire. The driver says that an object fell off of an 18-wheeler and he ran over it, which caused the fire. However, there are conflicting reports that a different driver than the one suspected was behind the wheel at the time and that the driver fled without evacuating the bus first. However, no injuries were reported and only one bus of the four caught on fire. The incident is still being investigated. If you’re ever in a car fire, first stop the car in a safe place and turn off the ignition. Then get everyone away from the vehicle as soon as possible, preferably at least 100 feet away, before calling the police. Stay away from the vehicle until the police arrive to put out the fire.

86% of NOLA School Buses Pass Inspection, Deadline Set for Remainder

School bus problems have been in the news a lot lately in New Orleans after several accidents and inspection problems. The NOLA Schools Superintendent has given schools a deadline to pass new bus inspections. The Lens reported on the progress. The Superintendent’s office has reported that 86% of the district’s 647 buses have passed the new inspections. The deadline for all school buses to pass inspection is February 13th. 13 bus organizations have at least one bus that hasn’t passed inspection but is still in use for transporting students. A full list of these can be found in the linked article above. One of the major problems is that schools are allowed to charter their own bus fleets or run their own. This makes it hard for the city and the district to perform enforcement actions. Fleets have been dragging their feet for months about inspections. Schools that haven’t complied so far have received a low-grade warning and are now required to submit a plan on how they will repair their remaining buses. The Superintendent says that more actions will be taken if the remaining buses are not repaired by the deadline. For the full history of the problems with school bus failures and driver problems, you can read it at the link above.