NATIONAL COALITION OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY NEWS 2007

Rell Gets School Bus Driver Bill
June 8, 2007
By KATIE MELONE, Courant Staff Writer

Prompted by a fatal accident involving an unqualified school bus driver, the legislature passed a bill Wednesday evening that would overhaul Department of Motor Vehicles licensure and force several reforms the agency was supposed to implement six years ago.

The bill, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell is expected to sign, contains some new provisions for school bus drivers, such as drug testing for license applicants and the requirement that the motor vehicle department notify school bus companies and school districts of any change in the status of a driver's license.

Legislators took notice of several lapses in the bus driver licensing system after a pedestrian was killed in West Hartford in October 2006 by a driver who had cocaine in his system. The Courant later discovered that, in a series of mishaps, Robert Fountain was able to obtain and keep a license despite a criminal record that should have disqualified him.

The Courant also found that hundreds of bus drivers had similarly questionable records, and had found in 2000 that 300 drivers had serious felony convictions on their records.

"The importance of this legislation is that it keeps the children of Connecticut safe while they're being transported to and from school," said state Sen. Thomas P. Gaffey, D-Meriden. "Most bus drivers are responsible, caring people. We just want to make sure that we have a good system in place that weeds folks out and we never have a situation again where somebody like Fountain is behind the wheel of a school bus."

The DMV ended the practice of issuing temporary licenses immediately in response to the disclosure that Fountain obtained one before a full criminal background check was completed. The bill formally bars temporary licenses.

In another new provision, school bus companies are also required to twice monthly ensure that drivers do not appear on a DMV list of suspended, revoked or withdrawn licenses. The law also bans companies from employing anyone who tests positive for drugs, and requires periodic criminal checks, which the DMV was supposed to implement in 2000.

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