Bus Driver Causes Fatal Crash in California; Had Criminal Record

A bus crash on Sunday, which killed 8 and injured 30 people, was allegedly caused by a driver who was under the influence. The bus was on its way to a Northern California casino and carried about 43 passengers.

Police arrested Quintin Watts on Monday as he lay critically injured in his hospital bed. This incident is under investigation and police officers are waiting for results of Watts' blood tests.

According to a witness, the bus drifted across a two-lane road and the driver over-corrected causing him to lose control. The bus rolled over and into a ditch. Some passengers were thrown out while others were crushed by the rolling bus.

The story is even more horrific.

The bus' license plates were not valid. The driver has a history of substance abuse as well as a long history of motor vehicle offenses. In fact, he just recently got his license reinstated in January of this year after having it suspended for two years. At this point, the police do not even know who or what company owns the bus involved. While it says "Greyhound" on the side, Greyhound explained that they sold the bus several years ago.

Authorities are investigating Cobbs Bus Services and if they owned the bus. One of the passengers killed, Daniel Cobb, is also being investigated as having possibly owned Cobbs Bus Services. The last operator of the bus is listed as Prayer Apostolic Faith Christian Center of Modesto, which has the same address as the listing for Cobbs Bus Services.

Buses taking tourists to local casinos in California are popular. Unfortunately, it seems whether or not this industry is taking the proper steps to background check employees is seriously in question.

Is this accident and all of the fatalities going to have the impact to make background checks happen?

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs Bill for EMT Background Checks

California created a statewide standard of background checking EMTs as well as established a paramedic registry. Governor Schwarzenegger signed the bill into law on Thursday.

The bill, AB 2917, had wide support; it passed the state Senate 35-1.

Through the new law, California will be able to develop standards for certification of EMTs. It will also be able to keep track of disciplinary orders and conditions of probations. Presently, in California, there is no repository of this information allowing EMTs who have a history of misconduct to travel from county to county without being caught or prevented from obtaining jobs.

State Assembly Majority Leader, Alberto Torrico, created the bill. He noted that while EMTs are "unsung heroes" in emergency situations, "it was important to push these reforms to prevent others from falling through the cracks."

The bill had the support of California's Health & Human Services, the State Firefighters Association, and the Emergency Medical Services Administrators Association of California.

Kudos to California for taking this step!

New Jersey Investigation Uncovers Convicts Driving Kids to School

A recent investigation conducted by Gannett New Jersey uncovered 35 school-bus drivers with criminal convictions who are driving children to school and home. Since the investigation, three of the drivers with criminal records have had their driving endorsements revoked, one of who was convicted of manslaughter in 1992 and the other two were women convicted of endangering the welfare of a child.

Even more shocking is the case of Parrish Jones, a man with prior drug convictions who was hired as a bus aide by a company in Monmouth County to drive middle-school students. Jones is now serving 10 years in prison for giving a 15 year old a near fatal dose of methadone while on a school bus in 2006.

The other 32 drivers with convictions have not had their licenses revoked because state officials say their prior offenses do not warrant the removal of their licenses. State-education officials are now trying to crack down on the background-check process to insure that nobody else slips through the cracks.

Gannett also discovered 148 convicts who received licenses to drive buses in the past, but those licenses have since expired. These drivers included private-bus companies and school districts that operate their own buses.

State education officials are pointing to a failure in the state's fingerprinting system as the cause of so many people not being properly screened. In the case of Parrish Jones, the company he worked for never did a background check on him. After the department of education audited the company, they discovered other employees who did not receive background checks. As a result of this negligence, a boy almost died. Now, education officials are figuring out a penalty system of fines for companies who do not follow through with background checks.