Officials Knew of School Bus Driver’s License Suspension

Capistrano school district officials acknowledged Thursday that they knew the driver of a bus full of kindergarten students that collided with a pickup truck in Dana Point had a suspended license but allowed her to keep driving.

Barbara Ann Squires, 32, of Mission Viejo was involved in two accidents last year in private vehicles, state records show. She was found at fault in one of them, a collision in Anaheim in which a teen-age driver and his sister were injured.

The suspension, for not having liability insurance during at least one of the accidents, permitted Squires to drive only while working. School district officials said they allowed her to continue driving since the suspension was technically not for safety-related violations.

Officials from the Capistrano Unified School District suspended Squires with pay Thursday and launched an inquiry into whether their procedures for screening problem bus drivers need revision, according to Brad Watson, the district’s pupil transportation coordinator.

Squires faces loss of her job if an investigation by the California Highway Patrol finds her at fault in Wednesday’s accident, Watson said.

The CHP Thursday affixed preliminary blame on Squires in the Dana Point crash, which left the pickup truck driver seriously injured and three of 22 students with minor injuries.

CHP Officer Bruce Lian said witnesses have told him that Squires ran a red light at Street of the Golden Lantern while headed east on La Cresta Drive to drop off students from nearby Richard H. Dana Elementary School.

The witnesses’ statements contradict that of Squires, who told the CHP that her light was green and that the driver of the pickup truck, Scott Nelson, 17, of Dana Point, ran a red light while headed south on Golden Lantern, Lian said.

The officer said investigators have not been able to interview Nelson, who was listed in serious condition Thursday at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo.

Bus passenger Matthew Slater, 5, of Laguna Niguel was listed in good condition Thursday at Mission Hospital. The two other students injured, Rebecca Stauch, 5, and Stephanie Andre, 6, both of Dana Point, were treated and released at San Clemente Hospital.

No citations have been issued.

Squires, a 3-year driver for the district, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The accident was the most serious that officials could recall in the 23-year history of the district, which covers a 193-square-mile area including Coto de Caza, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente and parts of Mission Viejo. The district buses 10,000 of its 23,000 students to 27 different schools.

The accident triggered several calls to the district from concerned parents. Only two of the six school board members could be reached Thursday for comment.

“We’ve had a pretty good (driving)) record until now,” said board member Annette Dude. “It’s one of those tragic things, and we’ll have to deal with it.”

Board member Charles Ward said he was reluctant to comment pending the outcome of the investigation but added: “I don’t like anybody who drives vehicles on suspended licenses. I’m very adamant about drivers in this damned state anyway. They all make me sick.”

Officer Lian emphasized the importance of screening out problem drivers.

“You’re putting the lives of 30 to 40 people in one person’s hands, and you have to get a top-notch driver or this (Wednesday’s accident) happens,” Lian said Thursday. “We were lucky yesterday that more people weren’t hurt.”

Watson said he thought the screening system had worked in Squires’ case.

Under the system, the school district relies on its own annual background check, along with regular updates from the state Department of Motor Vehicles, to keep informed of any traffic violations by its 88 drivers.

In order to become a bus driver, Watson said that an applicant has to first pass the school district’s 40-hour training course, followed by a school bus driving test by the CHP. Finally, the applicant must undergo a DMV background check for both criminal and traffic violations. The state Department of Education then awards a school bus driving certificate, renewable every 4 years, Watson said.

Notified by DMV

After Squires’ license was suspended June 30, 1987, following a March 19, 1987, accident in Dana Point and an April 26, 1987, accident in Anaheim, the DMV notified the Capistrano district’s offices in San Juan Capistrano, Watson said.

After receipt of the message in September, 1987, Watson said Squires’ superiors took her aside “and we counseled her.” Squires was kept off driving duties for “less than a week” during this counseling period, but she was then allowed to go back to work, Watson said. That decision was based solely upon the nature of the suspension, he added.

“The fact that her license was suspended due to insurance problems does not indicate she was at fault in those accidents,” Watson said, noting that the DMV record provided no details on the accidents.

Information on the March 19, 1987, accident could not be immediately obtained.

But in the second one, a CHP report concluded that Squires was at fault in a freeway collision that sent Squires and two teen-agers in another vehicle to the hospital. The report said Squires disputed witnesses’ accounts in that accident.

Injured All Three

According to the report, Squires was traveling north on the Orange Freeway through Anaheim when her pickup truck swerved into the center divider and bounced into the path of an automobile driven by Christopher Hilbert, 18, of Diamond Bar. The impact of the collision sent Hilbert, his sister, Laura, 13, and Squires all to Anaheim Memorial Hospital for treatment of aches and pains, the CHP report said.

CHP Officer Rick Lozano determined that she was at fault in making an unsafe lane change. But he did not issue her a citation because it is CHP policy not to issue citations for a moving violation unless the officer actually witnesses it, or there is irrefutable evidence of an offense, CHP spokesman Mike Lundquist said.

Capistrano school district officials said Thursday that they were unaware of the details of that accident.

E.L. Rooney, the district’s transportation manager, said the district normally gets a DMV printout which states only whether an accident or violation has taken place but does not provide details.

Whether or not a driver is at fault is not mentioned by the DMV, he said, and “unless we get a question from our insurance company, we do not find out.”

Rooney added, however: “If we see three, four or five of these things (accidents) come up, there is follow-up on our part.”

Automatic Firing

Watson said a driver is automatically fired if there are four or more serious traffic infractions. The DMV also suspends licenses after four points in a year. The driver can reapply for a bus driving position in three years, Watson said.