School bus driver charged with impaired driving

Woman had 20 kids on board when she hit another vehicle

A school bus driver has been charged with impaired driving after a bus crashed with 20 students on board.

York Regional Police said the 54year-old driver struck another vehicle near Enterprise Blvd. and Warden Ave. at about 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Police said the bus was carrying 20 students from Bill Crothers Secondary School, which is minutes away from where the collision occurred.

According to police, the driver of the vehicle that was hit said “the school bus struck her car then kept bumping into it.” There were no injuries.

When police arrived, they noticed signs of impairment and placed the bus driver under arrest. She was then brought to district headquarters, where she refused to undergo a breath test.

The 54-year-old woman from Georgina has been charged with refusal to provide a breath sample and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

“Any case of impaired driving is serious and now we’re at that time of the year when we’re talking about school safety,” said Const. Andy Pat- tenden. “And with this case of the school bus driver — I mean I can say that with all the impaired driving cases I’ve looked at, nothing surprises me anymore.”

The driver was hired by York Region District School Board from Stock Transportation, which conducts background checks and medical exams of all drivers.

“The driver has been immediately terminated and will be ineligible for future hire by our company,” said Stock Transportation. “The safety of the students we transport is our top priority. Without exception, our drivers are required to abide by our company drug and alcohol policy.”

Kathryn Wallace, interim director of education, said in a statement that the board will be investigating the incident and following up with Stock Transportation, the vendor that Wallace confirmed was responsible for the placement of the driver.

“We will also conduct a review of the process undertaken to place this driver, to ensure an incident like this does not happen again. We have high expectations for our employees and contracted vendors. This time, these expectations were not met,” the statement read.

Stock conducts background checks and medical exams of all drivers. The background checks are then ap- proved by Student Transportation Services in an annual audit, said board spokesperson Licinio Miguelo

Pattenden said he will not be releasing the school bus driver’s name, as this is regular practice of York Regional Police regarding impaireddriving charges.

“In some of these cases, it’s embarrassing for them and they’re shamed by their family and their community,” he said.

Pattenden said 20 impaired-driving charges are laid every week in York Region.

The driver will appear in court in Newmarket on Sept. 30.