Since 2015 a NJ school Bus company has been involved with 78 accidents, according to NJ.com News.
Jay’s Bus Service — a Lakewood-based company that operates in two counties, is the bus company with a record that has double the average crash rate of all bus companies that operate in the state.
A 2018 Wayne University professor’s study of three major school bus companies in different states found 2% to 3% of those companies’ vehicles were in crashes over a two-year period. Jay’s has a crash rate roughly five times that over two years, according to federal transportation data, Advance Publications NJ News researched.
In addition to their astonishingly high rate of accidents, Several Jay’s drivers have been charged with serious violations, including one who was caught driving drunk with a bus full of children and another who was charged with Driving while high on oxycontin.
In 2015 app.com reported that school bus driver, Angel Colon, working for Jay’s Bus Service driving a busload of 20 kids, smelled of alcohol when he spoke with a police officer during a road rage investigation. Colon, whose breath reeked of booze, was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence and endangering the welfare of children.
In 2017, another school bus driver was arrested when he was high on Oxycodone and the school bus, he was driving rear-ended a parked car, according to APP.com. Mark Waldhelm, a school bus driver with Jay’s Bus Service, was charged with driving while intoxicated, reckless driving and careless driving, APP explained. Luckily this drug addict was driving an empty bus when he rear ended someone’s car.
NJ.com uncovered that Jay’s Bus Service has one of the worst inspection records among large bus companies in New Jersey. Mechanics say the buses are full of old, broken parts and NJ Inspection records revealed the company has been cited several dozen times for leaks and bald tires. NJ.com reports that Jay’s transports thousands of kids from 20 different public schools. School districts contracted over 6 million in business with this bus company.
Lakewood public schools trying to curb spending contracted $2.4 million With Jay’s Bus Service in February, APP reported. Citing potential savings of more than $7 million over the course of three years, the Lakewood Board of Education has hired private companies to get its almost 6000 students to school.
Both parties, the school districts and the founders of Jay’s have declined any comment on this very serious issue. Local NJ media should be commended for reporting on this. Locally among parents, the bus company has developed a horrible reputation and one can speculate they can have an influence.
