WOODINVILLE, Wash. - A Woodinville day camp owner says he needed safe, reliable transportation for his camp kids. So he turned to the nation's largest school bus company, First Student.
Ray Reznick says he's puzzled, and angered, by the condition of the van that First Student leased to him. He questions the maintenance practices at the company responsible for getting 4 million children to school every day.
Reznick says the 15-passenger Dodge van started having problems as soon as it left the leasing lot in Tacoma.
Reznick steered the van into Long's Automotive in Woodinville. There, mechanics turned up potentially serious problems with the van, including a loose ball joint that could affect steering, grease that leaked into the braking system, and a tire so worn it was about to explode.
They are a big transportation company, Reznick said of First Student. There's a reasonable expectation they know how to keep a vehicle say when they are working with kids.
First Student told KING5 it would never put an unsafe vehicle on the road, but couldn't comment further until it inspects the van.
I'm definitely worried that there are kids in a First Student vehicle right now and they are not safe. And that scares me, said Reznick.
