GRTC driver shouldn’t have had earlier charge dismissed
LINDY KEAST RODMAN/TIMES-DISPATCH
The GRTC bus driver behind the wheel when a pedestrian was killed last week had a previous reckless charge in a personal vehicle dismissed.
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MORE • GRTC driver shouldn’t have had earlier charge dismissed • WILLIAMS: Did broken law lead to fatal GRTC accident? |
The Richmond bus driver charged in the death of a pedestrian last week should not have been allowed to have a previous reckless-driving charge dismissed simply by attending driving school.
The General Assembly in 2008 passed a law that forbids those who have a commercial driver’s license from using driving school as a means to having a driving charge dismissed.
Teresa L. Jones, who needed a commercial driver’s license for her job as a bus operator for GRTC Transit System, was pulled over May 22 for driving 55 mph in a 35-mph zone in a private car in Richmond’s East End.
Richmond police charged Jones with reckless driving and failure to wear a seat belt, and court documents for both charges show the “yes” box was checked next to the question of whether she held a commercial driver’s license.
Jones paid $25 for the seat-belt charge and, as is frequently the case for those charged with reckless driving, was given a chance in June to enroll in an eight-hour driving clinic. The typical result is that if drivers successfully complete the course, the reckless-driving charge is dismissed.
A court-approved instructor certified Sept. 10 that Jones had satisfied the requirements for the Second Chance Driving Improvement Clinic and paid $67 for the course. The reckless-driving charge was dismissed last week.
John M. Lewis Jr., GRTC’s chief executive officer, said he was unaware of the law stipulating that attending a driving school does not make it permissible for a court to dismiss or defer the conviction of “any holder of a commercial driver’s license charged with any offense committed while operating a noncommercial vehicle.“
“We’ll circle back with DMV and the courts to see what should have happened,“ Lewis said yesterday.
Lewis had said this week that Jones, a GRTC driver for three years, had violated company policy by failing to inform supervisors of her May 22 arrest for reckless driving.
Jones, 46, of the 100 block of West 22nd Street in Richmond, has been on paid administrative leave since Sept. 30, when police say the bus she was driving ran over and killed Loucendia Reed Lambert.
Lambert, 55, of Disputanta in Prince George County, was on her way to her job at the Virginia Department of Health when she was struck at North 14th and East Franklin streets downtown.
Jones was charged Friday with reckless driving in the case and was scheduled to have appeared yesterday morning in Richmond General District Court.
But an apparent communications breakdown led to some confusion in the courtroom of Judge Thomas O. Jones, who instructed deputies to go out in the hall several times and look for the defendant.
Authorities later determined that Jones and her lawyer had arranged to have the arraignment rescheduled for today—a change that never made its way to the courtroom yesterday morning.
Contact Joe Macenka at (804) 649-6804 or
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Staff writer Michael Paul Williams contributed to this report.
Reader Reactions
“John M. Lewis Jr., GRTC’s chief executive officer said this week that Jones, a GRTC driver for three years, had violated company policy by failing to inform supervisors of her May 22 arrest for reckless driving.“
Mr. Lewis should be pulling the driving records of every bus driver on a weekly basis as well as monitoring http://www.courts.state.va.us/courts/gd.html. It’s not likely that a bus driver will report a reckless driving arrest since they would be fired anyway.
There appear to be gaps in GRTC policy which allow incompetent drivers to maintain their employment status and endanger the lives of citizens.
Mr. Lewis is clearly incompetent and should be fired.
she is supposed to get paid leave….company policy…if they violate it, they could get a lawsuit and she will make a whole lot more…right now, i think that everything is about ‘damage control’ and placing the blame. they are trying the case in the newspapers and i am sure if it goes to trial, they will pick the jurors from somewhere else…however, if a police officer can shoot an unarmed police and kill them and still work on the police force, i dont see how she should have a problem keeping her job. and all of this ‘would’ve , could,‘ve should’ve’ doesnt matter because they ‘didnt’
She runs someone down with a bus and gets paid leave while people who got laid off are losing their unemployment. Something is wrong here.
Just think about this… If we can’t enforce this law…
Just wait until our Government takes over our Health Care.
If one agency DMV can’t keep accurate information…. then how will we expect
at least 50 different agency’s to manage and control our HEALTH CARE?
Once again our DMV has no standards. This is the same DMV that gave a Virginia License to the 9/11 terrorist. The same DMV that gave License’s to Illegal people.
Who let this happened? Who worked behind the scene to let this go away?
Who at the DMV did this person know… or better yet.. who in the COURTS was a friend of this women and was able to make this go away?
Who is corrupt?
As I remember a few years ago… didn’t a Richmond City School Bus Driver have the same issue when they were involved in an Accident?
In commenting on this article regarding previous violations, isn’t that they whole intent of going to driving school, to clear your record of some of these ridiculous infractions the Commonwealth put on its residents. I’m sure we all know that it is NOT hard to receive a summons for “reckless” driving.
Maybe the GA needs to do a little revising to some of these laws.
Amazing how many people are out here just waiting for an opportunity to file lawsuits.
Darn…I have questioned the charges also, as I was expecting something like vehicular manslaughter. With her only being charged reckless driving, this leads me to believe there is more to the story then what the police are reporting. You cannot say the driver was being careless or reckless, unless you were there and a witness. In our sue-happy country it is hard for most people to understand that sometimes accidents really do just happen. Perhaps the pedestrian stepped into the street into a blind spot when the driver had a green light. This would lead to her (and the other passengers) not being able to see her. If that is the case, vehicular manslaughter would not be the appropriate charge, reckless driving would be…since this is the charge normally given to people in minor accidents, like fender benders.
Citycynic you sound like a damn fool
Just another prime example of another inept, unqualified, ignorant of the laws they are supposed to uphold, political appointee on the bench.
What good does it do to have our representatives pass laws when the courts don’t enforce them?
I don’t blame GRTC for this. She failed to inform them and the court let her off. Then again 55 in a 35 is not the most grievous driving infraction that we see everyday from most drivers.
The CEO of GRTC was “unaware” of a law that directly impacts the safety of his customers and the liability of his company? Sounds like Ms. Lambert’s family has a wrongful death lawsuit and John Lewis should lose his job. And although it won’t bring Ms. Lambert back, maybe it will at least address the cavalier attitude we’ve seen exhibited by GRTC.
Kudos to the Times Dispatch and Joe Macenka for keeping this story front and center.
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