(WSVN) - First, parents said a private bus service stranded their children at school. But now, a traffic crash near a school, involving the same company is raising new concerns tonight. 7’s Karen Hensel has this special assignment report, “Bumpy Ride.”
It was a frightening way to start the school day. On the morning of Sept. 29, 10-year-old Ely was the only student on board a school bus during a five-car crash.
Ely, student: “I’m pretty sure without the seat belt, I wouldn’t have made it alive.”
Ely was riding in a small, private bus operated by the company Buggy Technologies. The Miami Police traffic crash report says the Buggy’s “brake failed” on Northeast Miami Court near 19th Terrace. The bus hit two cars, took out “…A light pole and school zone sign and stop sign…” then hit a third car. The utility pole came down on a fourth vehicle, causing sparks to fly.
Anjanetta Cooney, bus driver: “My life flashed before me.”
Veteran bus driver Anjanetta Cooney was behind the wheel. The day before the accident, Cooney says she snapped a picture of the “brake wear” message on the dashboard. Then, 13 minutes before the crash, she texted the company about the brakes, writing in part, “I made it to Ely stop on time, but the brakes on this van just went all the way to the floor, and there was a message about the brakes…”
As she pulled up to the school’s drop-off area…
Anjanetta Cooney: “Put my foot on the brakes, no brakes. It went all the way to the floor. It hit the curve, jumped the curve, went down, and the engine just ‘rrrrrrarrrrr,’ and once it did that, it’s going to keep going, and I’m, ‘Oh my God. Oh my God,’ pumping, pumping, pumping, pumping. The brakes won’t stop. The brakes won’t stop. I’m screaming, screaming. To this day, I don’t know what really happened to that vehicle.”
Keren Segal, mother of Ely: “It was any parent’s nightmare.”
Keren Segal got a call and raced over to her son.
Keren Segal: “He was frantic. He was crying nonstop. He was crying nonstop.”
Private school buses have to undergo inspections, and Miami-Dade County tells us this bus had a “full inspection” nine days before the crash, and the “brakes were inspected and functioning.”
But Buggy Technologies has racked up more than $5,800 in fines for citations, including for buses operating without valid inspection decals.
Anjanetta Cooney: “Safety is first. These are precious cargo.”
In a statement, the company’s founder, Isabel Berney, confirmed the driver texted a manager about the brakes “less than 15 minutes” before the crash but said, “He did not have a chance to read it or respond in time.” Adding, “Buggy was not aware of any issues with the van at the time of the accident, nor is there sufficient proof that the truck malfunctioned. The safety of our children on Buggy (mine included) has and always will be our highest priority, which is why we hire drivers with extensive experience and purchase the safest vans on the market.”
In September, 7Investigates looked into complaints about students being stranded at school by the service. Dozens of parents who paid thousands of dollars demanded their money back.
David Marchisotto, parent: “Right away, there were issues.”
Elizabeth Tricoche, parent: “This is a significant amount of money for a lot of people.”
Bianca Hoshina: “It’s concerning.”
Berney blamed the pick-up problems on COVID.
Meanwhile, Ely’s parents have pulled him off the bus service after the crash.
Keren Segal: “Knowing that my 10-year-old went through that by himself without other kids in the car, without us being there to accept him when he stepped off the car, it was just horrible.”
Anjanetta Cooney hasn’t driven a bus since the crash. She says she is still injured and still shaken up.
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