A devastating school bus accident in Boston that claimed the life of a five-year-old boy could have been easily prevented if the driver had been paying proper attention, according to disturbing footage from the vehicle's cameras.
The Tragic Timeline of Events
On April 28, substitute driver Jean Charles was operating a school bus route he had never driven before when he missed a crucial turn that would have positioned the bus directly in front of five-year-old Lens Arthur Joseph's home. Instead, he stopped across the street, forcing Joseph and his 11-year-old cousin to cross the road.
At 2:41:42pm, Charles opened the bus doors to let the children disembark. Less than ten seconds after they stepped off the vehicle, tragedy struck as the driver began moving forward while looking at his dashboard rather than watching the children.
Camera footage shows that between 2:41:55pm and 2:42pm, Charles repeatedly glanced down at his dashboard rather than maintaining visual contact with the children. As the bus began moving, Joseph's silhouette became visible moving in front of the passenger side through the driver's side mirror.
Driver's Troubled History and Aftermath
Shockingly, this wasn't Charles's first incident that day. Officials confirmed he had already missed another turn earlier in the route and had struck another vehicle without reporting the collision. His state-required certification had expired in December, despite Transdev, his employer, alerting him to renew it.
Even more concerning, Charles had been involved in several previous crashes in Boston and had been removed from the road for two days for additional training less than two weeks before the fatal incident.
It took approximately six seconds after running over Joseph for Charles to apparently realise what had happened, reacting to something off-camera and covering his mouth with his hand. The five-year-old was rushed to hospital but later succumbed to his injuries.
Investigations and Family Grief
The Suffolk district attorney's office and Boston police are investigating the crash, which also triggered an internal investigation of Boston Public Schools' oversight of Transdev. An August internal investigation determined both organisations had numerous failures regarding management and safety of the district's school buses.
Joseph's family described him as a hardworking child who wanted to become a police officer when he grew up. His uncle, Ricardo Joseph, remembered him at his May funeral: "If he wasn't playing, he was cleaning. If he wasn't cleaning, he was doing homework."
Born in Haiti in 2019, Joseph would have celebrated his sixth birthday in August. His family has since sued Boston Public Schools and the driver, alleging negligence and recklessness resulted in the five-year-old's death.
Transdev, an $11 billion French company that has served as Boston Public Schools' bus contractor since 2013, has faced at least 15 court complaints alleging personal injury. Charles resigned in May before a scheduled hearing for his termination.
