Feds flagged company

THE BUS company involved in Monday’s fatal crash hired a driver with a drunken driving record and has an alarming history of unsafe driving — including a prior fatal crash.

Dahlia Group Inc. of Flushing, Queens, has been redflagged by federal authorities for a repeat pattern of unsafe driving, including multiple incidents of speeding.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration tagged Dahlia on its safety website with a warning sign after finding that 83% of similar motor carriers had a better on-road performance than Dahlia.

In February 2003, two passengers died and 28 were injured when a Dahlia bus headed from Manhattan to Atlantic City skidded off the road and flipped on its side. In February 2016, a Dahlia bus rolled over on its way from New York to a Connecticut casino, injuring 14 passengers.

Dahlia hired Raymond Mong at some point after he was pulled off the road by the MTA in April 2015 for hiding a drunken-driving arrest in Connecticut. Dahlia is required to provide the state Department of Transportation with all drivers’ records, including convictions.

DOT officials could not say when the agency last inspected Dahlia or whether it was aware of Mong’s record.

Since 2015, Dahlia Group has been cited for seven unsafe driving violations, including five for speeding, one for improper passing and one for unlawfully parking a vehicle in the road.

A Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration spokesman said the agency will begin a compliance review of Dahlia.