New York’s public and private school-bus associations testified today before the Senate Committee on Transportation against three similar pieces of legislation that would require ignition interlocks on school buses to guard against drunk drivers.
The New York Association for Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) and the New York School Bus Contractors Association (NYSBCA) told committee members the ignition interlocks are unnecessary because of industry safeguards already in place. They also cited concerns regarding the associated equipmet costs, operation and reliability of the equipment. Both groups stated that the safety record of school-bus transportation and the existing, required training of bus drivers should preclude the need to legislate costly equipment when budgets are already stretched to the limit. They also argued for more training for supervisors and managers to better observe driver behavior prior to the start of routes.
S1347, A837 and A1862 were introduced in January to require ignition interlocks in new school buses purchaed on or after July 1, 2015. The equipment would require bus drivers to prove they are sober before they could start the vehicle. The bills were introduced in response to numerous reported cases of intoxicated school bus drivers across the state during the past few yearss, especially three specific cases last year in which drivers were charged with DUIs.
NYAPT and NYSBCA argued that random alcohol and drug tests of school bus drivers in all school districts statewide is one solution that would be more effective, not to mention less expensive. NYSBCA said some drivers, including those driving school buses with 14 or fewer passengers, are excluded from the current testing pool. Other recommendations include increasing the training for supervisors in drug and alcohol use recognition each day and better enforcement throughout the industry of laws requiring the “direct observation” of school bus drivers before their shifts begin.
“As champions of school bus safety, the New York School Bus Contractors Association believe there are better solutions to help prevent DWI and further protect our children,” said Paul Mori, a NYSBCA board member and senior manager at Huntington Coach on Long Island. “When considering the excellent safety record of the industry, the technical challenges of ignition interlocks, and cost, the Association believes that mandating ignition interlock devices on every single school bus in New York is simply not a rational response to a few isolated, yet widely-publicized, incidences.”
Both NYSBCA and NYAPT say that ignition interlocks are flawed. According to Mori, who has 32 years of operational experience in student transportation, interlocks must be engaged and re-engaged each time a school bus is started and re-started.
“Any false positives (mouthwash) or other problems with the device would lead to significant employee and transportation management issues,” he added. “And, because these devices require activation from a driver while the vehicle is running to be effective, this could create major distractions for the driver and, ultimately, be very dangerous for students riding the bus.”
NYAPT’s Mannella testified that as few as 1 percent of bus routes being disrupted means that as many as 1,000 routes could be disrupted on any given day, based upon 50,000 total buses statewide that operate at least twice daily. Additionally, he said the sight of seeing the bus driver blow into a machine would be “disturbing to children and demeaning to the driver and needs to be avoided if at all possible.”
Both NYAPT and NYSBCA both estimate that interlock units can cost $75 to 150 each to install, with monthly fees ranging from $60 to 100, depending on the vendor and the equipment. At the low end of operation, added Mannella, the first year’s cost for each school bus in New York would be about $800 and $4 million in the first year alone to outfit the state’s entire fleet.
“We believe that these resources could be more effectively deployed to school buses, driver training and student safety training;Mori also testified on the astronomical cost of installation, maintenance, calibration, training, and additional staffing,” said Manella.
Mori added that recurring costs to school districts and taxpayers statewide could amount to more than $60 million a year when adding training, testing, maintenance and replacement costs.
