NEW YORK — A bus driver who barreled through a red light and slammed into another bus in New York City this month, killing himself and two others, had a history of accidents and a recent conviction for driving drunk, but he was legally allowed to drive.
Federal rules grant commercial drivers one strike for certain crimes, including driving under the influence, before banning them for life.
Raymond Mong lost a job as a New York City bus driver in 2015 after pleading guilty to an off-duty drunken-driving crash in Connecticut. He was still serving 18 months’ probation when he got into another crash in his personal vehicle in June of 2016. Neither wreck kept him from legally driving a bus again.
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He got a job with a charter company and had a valid commercial driver’s license on Sept. 18 when he powered his empty bus through an intersection, hit another bus, and crashed into a building, police said. Sixteen people were hurt in addition to the three killed.