Video shows school bus hit 8-year-old child in Boston, family files lawsuit
Shocking video shows a school bus jump onto a sidewalk and hit 8-year-old Reginald Oates outside a school in Boston. The family says Reginald, who has autism, survived the crash but was severely injured.
"He's understandably taking it one day at time. The video is unbelievable. It's horrific," said Tucker Merrigan, the attorney who represents the family.
Now a lawsuit has been filed against the company Transdev which operates Boston Public School buses over this crash that happened last December.
"We filed suit this morning. Clearly an outrageous system failure with this transportation company as this is not an isolated incident," Tucker said.
Video shows driver, monitor sleeping
The law firm says the video shows the driver and bus safety monitor sleeping in their seats in front of the Curley School in Jamaica Plain. After a few moments you see the driver wake up and start the bus. He immediately swerves into Reginald and the school aide. The boy suffered a broken leg and still has trauma from the crash. The lawsuit accuses Transdev and its workers of gross negligence.
"You don't always get video in these circumstances but there is absolutely no explanation for what happened," Merrigan said.
Parents picking up their children from the Curley School remember the incident. "I was in the schoolyard it was so scary. I am super scared of all school buses now and whenever I see one, I got to watch my kid. I hope something will be done," Kiera Solomon said.
Fatal crash in Hyde Park
Transdev is already under investigation for a crash in Hyde Park in April when five-year-old Lens Joseph was hit and killed after getting off his bus. An investigation proved the driver's school bus certificate had lapsed and Transdev didn't know that until after the crash.
"What we seek to investigate, and we are confident that is very, very, clear is that this company has failed to supervise, its failed to train and its failed to hire qualified drivers," Tucker said.
Reginal's family says they don't want something like this to happen to anyone else. "They want accountability and safety for all the children in Boston to and from school every day," Tucker said.
City reviewing contract with Transdev
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says the investigation into Transdev is still ongoing.
"For families who are grieving, or for a family who has had to go through a horrible recovery over an extended period of time that never should have happened, and we need to make sure things like that don't happen," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Tuesday.
Wu said there is now more daily oversight on the bus company, and the city is reviewing its contract with Transdev.
"We work closely with them every day," Wu said. "We have put in place additional checks and now there are daily meetings happening to review each and every incident rather than just relying on the standard set in the contract. Really trying to go above and beyond and ensure that there's been changes put in place."
