Boston Public Schools bus contractor sued over crash that injured 8-year-old

The family of a Boston elementary school student is suing district transportation contractor Transdev over a school bus crash that left an 8-year-old with significant injuries.

The incident occurred the afternoon of Dec. 6, 2024 when the driver, Vitony Laguerre, lost control of the yellow school bus he was operating. Dash cam video shows the bus veering off the road and hitting student Reginald Oates and his school aide on the sidewalk just outside of the Curley K-8 school in Jamaica Plain.

Laguerre provided multiple explanations of what happened, based on Boston police reports filed with the complaint. He initially told officers that he swerved to avoid a vehicle that had cut him off and, in the process, mistakenly hit the gas pedal rather than the brakes. Laguerre later allegedly told officials he was idling near the school and accidentally hit the accelerator rather than the brake. The driver also tried to explain the cause as the result of a steering issue.

The law firm representing the student's family alleges that Laguerre and a bus safety monitor "were napping in their seats just moments before the driver abruptly started the bus and swerved into pedestrians standing on the sidewalk." Subsequent crash reports revealed there was no pre-existing mechanical issue with the bus.

The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, brings claims of negligence against Laguerre and negligent hiring, supervision and training against Transdev.

"This frightening event almost took my child’s life," the child's guardian, Cynthia Davis, said in a written statement Tuesday. "Transdev must be held to account to protect our children and prevent this from ever happening again."

Officials with Transdev, a French company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

The suit comes just a month after a kindergartener was killed after being struck by a BPS bus operated by a Transdev driver during school drop-off in Hyde Park.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and BPS superintendent Mary Skipper have already announced the launch of an independent investigation into Transdev's performance and safety policies.

The Boston Globe reported that Transdev has been sued at least 15 other times for personal injury claims since the company began contracting with BPS in 2013.

Oates, the boy hit in Jamaica Plain, has an autism diagnosis and sustained a fractured femur, which required multiple surgeries and an inpatient hospital stay to correct, the lawsuit says. His guardian, Davis added that the 8-year-old also suffers from post-traumatic stress from the event.

The complaint seeks damages of an unspecified amount against Transdev.

In a statement, attorney J. Tucker Merrigan said Transdev "failed its responsibility to hire, train and supervise its drivers for the safety of Boston school children."

"Even if this brave young man is able to physically recover, the emotional scars of this experience will never go away," he said.

In addition to being named a defendant in the lawsuit, the 62-year-old Laguerre has also been criminally charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle, along with a a civil infraction of unsafe operation of a motor vehicle. He was arraigned on the charges last month in West Roxbury District Court and released pending trial.