Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Driver in fatal bus accident tests negative for drugs, alcohol
School officials say the driver of a school bus that fatally struck a 6-year-old Brooklyn girl on Friday in Kiryas Joel has tested negative for drug and alcohol influence and had no blemishes on his driving record.
The findings were reported in a joint statement from the United Talmudical Academy, which is the Hasidic community's main yeshiva system; the Kiryas Joel School District, the public school that provides transportation for 8,000 students in the religious schools; and Chinuch Transportation Co., the contractor that operated the bus.
The statement said the drug-and-alcohol test was done by Partners in Safety, a Middletown company. In addition, officials said the Department of Transportation had found no mechanical problems with the bus, and the Department of Motor Vehicles found nothing in the driver's records that violated state regulations.
State police said on Friday that Leah Mezzi was struck by the front bumper of the bus after the driver had let her off at the intersection of Acres Road and Lemberg Court at around 11:15 a.m. Troopers say the little girl had abruptly changed directions and walked in front of the bus, without the bus driver seeing her.
According to the statement on Monday, Norman Blumenthal, a therapist specializing in trauma and bereavement counseling, spoke to more than 700 parents in a conference call on Saturday night, and later held counseling sessions with teachers, bus drivers, firefighters and EMS workers from the community.
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