They claim they’re fighting to keep children safe, but statistics show that city school-bus drivers — the vast majority members of the striking union — are really hell on wheels.
Buses with public-school contracts were involved in more than 1,700 accidents in which the driver was at fault in each of the past five years for which numbers are available, according to statistics compiled by the city’s Department of Education.
The incidents range from minor fender-benders to collisions that resulted in 912 injuries in 2011, the latest year for which stats are available.
A year earlier, there were 1,792 accidents resulting in two deaths and 1,796 injuries.
Despite this bloody record, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181 claims its crippling bus strike is being waged in the best interests of its student passengers — because only its members can do the job safely.
One of the union’s top goals with the strike is to keep job protections that prioritize seniority for its 8,800 drivers and matrons.
“The mayor has removed a requirement that keeps the most qualified, experienced and skilled drivers on the job,” it said when it announced the strike.
That argument didn’t fly with parents of children hurt on the buses.
“Right now, they need to screen these matrons. They need matrons that really care for the kids,” said Tellison Forde, of Queens, whose severely autistic daughter, Donia, suffered bloodied hands and feet during a ride on a Logan Bus in May 2010.
“She could have been sliding on the seat and the driver and matron were probably not paying attention and talking with each other,” she said.
That incident, when Donia was 9, is now part of a lawsuit in Queens Supreme Court.
In a more recent case, a Lonero Transit matron is accused of trying to cover up how Nehemiah Rondon, 10, bashed his head on the floor of a moving bus.
“The bus stopped. He starts walking, and when he gets to the door, the bus starts again and lurches forward and banged his head,” said his attorney, Igor Grichanik.
The matron allegedly tried to coerce the boy into not telling what happened.
The coalition that represents several of the private bus operators, which in total receive about $1.1 billion a year in contracts from the city, disputed the city’s tally of accidents.
“Our insurance reports distinguish between driver fault and nonfault, chargeable versus nonchargeable, and show the large majority of incidents are not the fault of school-bus drivers, and most are minor incidents without children on board,” said spokeswoman Carolyn Daly.
Michael Cordiello, the president of ATU local 1181, agreed and said that his crews are more than qualified.
“ATU Local 1181 school- bus crews provide professional, experienced and safe service to New York City schoolchildren,” Cordiello said.
About 67 percent of the city’s school-bus drivers are involved in the strike.
Additional reporting by Christina Carrega and Julia Marsh