Miranda Vargas' Dad Visiting Congress To Push For Bus Safety Bill

PARAMUS, NJ — The father of a little girl killed in a horrific school bus crash last year will go to Washington, D.C. as part of a campaign to push for the passage of two bills designed to improve school bus safety nationwide.

Joevanny Vargas' daughter, Miranda, was a 10-year-old fifth-grader on a field trip when the school bus she was in collided with a dump truck on Interstate 80 in May 2018. Her teacher was also killed in the crash and dozens more from East Brook Middle School in Paramus were injured, some critically.

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat representing New Jersey's 5th District, Wednesday announced the introduction of two bipartisan bills to the U.S. House of Representatives designed protect children on school buses.

"I will remain motivated to see this through for as long as I live," Vargas said in a statement Wednesday. "This is commonsense legislation — it's not about Republicans or Democrats. This is about our kids. That day, it was my child, and tomorrow it could be yours."

Related: 1 Year Later: Miranda Vargas, Paramus Bus Crash Victim Remembered

One of the bills is named Miranda's Law, or the Miranda Vargas School Bus Driver Red Flag Act. The bill was created following news that Hudy Muldrow Sr., 78, drove the bus despite his driver's license being suspended 14 times since 1975. He reportedly made an illegal U-turn on a police turnaround to get to the other side of the highway. That's when a dump truck crashed into the bus.

Miranda's Law would guarantee real-time backgrounds checks on school bus drivers. Schools or school bus companies would be alerted by the U.S. Department of Transportation within 24 hours about an infraction posted to a bus driver's record.

Vargas successfully pushed New Jersey lawmakers to pass a law requiring three-point seat belts on schools buses, one of the few laws like it in the United States. That law was also nicknamed Miranda's Law.

"I'm trying to mirror her. She would try to stand up and help these kids," Vargas previously said. "I want kids who get on a bus to see those seat belts and know that the person driving the bus is qualified. I want them to look at the sky and say 'thank you, Miranda.'"

The second piece of legislation is the Secure Every Child Under the Right Equipment Standards, or the SECURES Act. The bill requires seat belts on all school buses and makes three-point lap-and-shoulder belts the national standard. It also encourages enacting measures to ensure students wear seat belts on school buses.

"We are here to help turn tragedy into hope for other children and families," Gottheimer said in a statement. "We must strengthen background checks on school bus drivers to protect our children from those, like the driver who drove Miranda’s bus, who have no place getting behind the wheel. And we need to bring three-point seat belts to school buses nationwide, because the lap belt is a relic of the past."

Both pieces of legislation are cosponsored by Republican and Democratic representatives.

"We care about ensuring our kids are safe from the moment they get on the school bus in the morning to the moment they arrive at home," Rep. Tom Reed, a Republican co-sponsor from New York, said in a statement. "Not only is it common sense to shed sunshine on the driving records of school bus drivers, it is the fair thing to do for the parents of millions of school age children who worry daily about their child’s safety."

Related:

• Teacher, Student Confirmed Dead In Paramus Field Trip Bus Crash
• Miranda Faith Vargas ID'd As Student Victim Of Paramus Bus Crash
• Miranda's Law Would Create Bus Driver Safety Notification System
• Murphy Signs School Bus Seat Belt Legislation Into Law
• Why Was Elderly Man With 14 Suspensions Driving Doomed NJ Bus?

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com