Video shows Philadelphia school bus running stop signs

PHILADELPHIA - June 11, 2013 (WPVI) -- Parents trust their children's safety to bus drivers every day during the school year. But an Action News investigation has found that at least one driver is failing to make the grade by rolling through stop signs with children on the bus.

It's happened not once, not twice, but five times in two weeks.

It was captured on video May 23rd. The camera shows a side view of a stop sign on the corner of Grays Avenue and 71st Street. Bus 86 blows right through the stop sign and hits the gas.

"I have watched this go on for pretty much the entire academic year," said parent Oskar Castro.

Another video documents the bus running the stop sign again, and then again a few days later.

Castro says he's complained to the bus company, All City Transportation, multiple times and even called the Philadelphia School District. But the driver remained behind the wheel, rolling through the stop sign in the same school bus.

"My biggest concern is that one day he's going to miss a little child running across the street, or a car that also doesn't stop is going to smash into him," Castro told Action News.

We set up surveillance and followed the driver, shown here twice last week dangerously running the sign before dropping off a busload of students at a charter school in Southwest Philadelphia.

"The safety of these children should be our paramount concern, and it doesn't seem to be that way with this driver," Castro said.

We took the video first to All City Transportation, which confirmed that the driver is still driving a bus for the company.

The company then claimed it disciplined the driver, but then put him right back on the same route again.

"If he goes through the stop sign, a police officer should give him a ticket," said a company supervisor. Asked what the COMPANY would do, the man replied, "If we know exactly that he went through this stop sign, then we punished him."

"Our position is that is not enough," said Philadelphia School District spokesperson Fernando Gallard.

Gallard said the district took action immediately after we showed them the video, and contacted the bus company with very clear directions to pull the driver from their routes.

"That is a dangerous situation," said Gallard, "and we want to make sure that person does not drive a school bus again."

"Should he be on the streets doing this when kids' safety is at risk?" I asked All City Transportation."

"Of course," responded the All City supervisor. "He has a license to drive. It is not my job to take him off. He has a license, and he is not suspended by the law, I can't tell him he cannot drive."

Castro says he also contacted the police department, but never saw officers in the neighborhood ticketing buses.

The bus driver does have a license, so while he may never drive for Philadelphia schools again, he may easily be able to get behind the wheel of another bus in another district.

Get more Local/State »

Action News Investigation, philadelphia, school bus, school, children, local/state, wendy saltzman

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•