It’s an alarming video from Depew of a school bus driver crossing the double yellow lines and driving on the wrong side of the road. The video was caught on David Pace’s dash camera as he sat in traffic on Transit Road Monday afternoon.
“I'm sitting there gong what's going on why's he doing this?” Pace asked.
“I was very concerned and disturbed. I still am,” said Western New York Bus Company President, Gary Yuzbashub. It transports children in the Cheektowaga, Cleveland Hill, and Lancaster school districts. He said the driver believed there was an accident ahead and other cars had passed on the opposite side of the road before him. So, he said he was just following traffic.
The driver is suspended for five days without pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation. The company says it plans to seek out other surveillance video in the area to find out if the driver's story lines up with what actually happened. “He thought at the time that everybody was going around the accident. That was his major explanation. That's why I want to conduct the investigation,” Yuzbashub.
Pace said his video proves otherwise. “There was no other car that came off to my left, at all. As you can see in the video. Um, I have four miles backs that shows there's no accident at all.”
The driver's been with the company for about a year and has a clean driving record. Yuzbashub said he's never received any complaints from parents or other motorists about that driver.
Pace said he's glad he caught it all on cam. He doesn't want the driver fired. But, he does hope the video drives home the severity of his actions. “He really needs to be reeducated especially if we're going to entrust him with the safety of our children.”
