Exclusive: NTSB opens investigation into Hays school bus crash that killed man, boy

The National Transportation Safety Board on Monday opened an incident investigation into a crash last month involving a concrete pump truck and a Hays district school bus carrying 11 adults and 44 prekindergarten students. A student and a motorist driving behind the bus died in the wreck.

The federal agency is investigating the March 22 crash to gain information that could help officials understand similar crashes to determine potential safety improvements, said Kristin Poland, deputy director of Office of Highway Safety at the safety board, in an interview Wednesday. The agency has open investigations into two recent school bus crashes in West Virginia and Illinois.

Unlike a full investigation, the safety board won’t send investigators to the crash site or issue a report or recommendations related to the Hays crash. While she declined to comment on the details of the March 22 crash, Poland said these investigations seek to understand the safety features of the vehicles involved in a crash as well as other factors that could have led to a wreck.

"What we want to understand is what's on the vehicle at the time of the crash and what could have been on the vehicle at the time of the crash," Poland said. "It's not just the school bus. We're looking at all the other vehicles and the environment as well."

The safety board's investigation into the crash — the results of which might be incorporated into pending investigations by the agency into crashes involving school buses in Rushville, Illinois, and in Mount Zion, West Virginia, last month — might shed light on the circumstances leading up to the wreck.

The safety board investigates transportation-related mishaps and practices across the country, making recommendations aimed at improving safety. The board doesn’t have the power to compel government agencies to take action.

The Hays district's bus crash happened about 2 p.m. March 22 on Texas 21 near the intersection with Caldwell Road, while Tom Green Elementary School pre-K students were coming home from a trip to a Bastrop County zoo.

A concrete pump truck, the driver of which was arrested Friday, veered out of its lane and struck the bus traveling in the opposite direction, causing the bus to roll over. The concrete truck also hit a passenger vehicle behind the bus. The crash killed 5-year-old Ulises Rodriguez Montoya, a pre-K student at Tom Green, and 33-year-old Ryan Wallace, who was driving the vehicle behind the bus.

School buses are statistically the safest way for students to travel, Poland said. Seatbelts make school buses even safer, she said.

"Children that are belted that don't have head injuries are able to unbuckle and self-evacuate," Poland said. "They're also in the same location they started in, whether they're upside down or right side up."

Cement pump truck driver an 'imminent hazard to public safety,' federal transit agency says, citing history of drug use

Federal transportation authorities found the driver of the concrete pump truck was an "imminent hazard to public safety" behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle.

The determination comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which governs the commercial trucking industry. On Friday, in a seven-page order called an "imminent hazard disqualification" form, the federal agency notified the driver, Jerry Hernandez, that he was barred from driving interstate or intrastate commerce.

"This finding means that based upon your present state of unacceptable safety compliance, your operation of any commercial motor vehicle substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death if not discontinued immediately," said Brandon A. Poarch, a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration field administrator, in the order.

Confirming receipt, Hernandez, 43, signed off on the order at 2:32 p.m. while at St. David's Emergency Center in Bastrop. That same day, Bastrop County authorities arrested him on a warrant charging him with criminally negligent homicide, a state jail felony.

A state jail felony is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000 and jail time of up to two years.

A defense attorney listed in online court records as representing Hernandez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In September 2020, Hernandez refused a "required reasonable suspicion" test for controlled substances after telling his employer at the time he had recently used illegal drugs and would test positive, according to the notice. He subsequently sought treatment from a substance abuse professional.

In December 2022, Hernandez tested positive for marijuana use after the substance abuse professional, the same one from nearly two years prior, ordered a follow-up test, according to the notice. He again sought treatment.

In April 2023, Hernandez tested positive for cocaine in another follow-up test ordered by the professional. He sought treatment again but "failed to complete any treatment plan" as required by federal law, according to the notice.

"Your blatant violations of the (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations) and disregard for the safety of the motoring public demonstrated by these actions substantially increases the likelihood of serious injury or death to you and the motoring public," Poarch said in the order.

Despite violations, truck driver listed as 'eligible' in Texas license system

As a result of the alleged drug offenses, Hernandez had a "prohibited" status on his commercial driver's license, banning him from driving interstate commerce. However, a search of the Texas driver's license system showed he was "eligible," a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper wrote in charging documents for Hernandez, meaning he was permitted to drive so long as he remained in the state.

Federal reporting requirements around drug and alcohol violations of drivers with commercial driver's licenses and what triggers ineligibility might change in November. Had those changes been in effect, Hernandez's commercial license would have been downgraded, barring him from driving a pump truck for the purpose of intrastate commerce, the trooper wrote.

Spokespeople for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration did not immediately provide comment. Spokespeople for the Texas Department of Public Safety, which handles the state licensing system, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday morning.

Francisco Martinez Jr., the owner of FJM Concrete Pumping LLC, which owned the concrete pump truck, told investigators he did not verify the status of Hernandez's commercial license or his driver's history prior to employing him, according to the charging documents for Hernandez.

On Tuesday, Martinez pleaded no contest to employing an unlicensed driver — not Hernandez, records show — and paid the $316 ticket, closing the October 2021 case. On Monday, Hays County Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace John Burns issued a warrant after Martinez failed to pay the years-old delinquent fine.

Federal reporting requirements regarding driver violations might be a subject of the safety board's investigation and ultimate recommendation, should the agency issue one.

The safety board examines "all aspects" of the circumstances surrounding similar wrecks, including the handling of past violations for involved drivers, Poland said.

Such was the case when the safety board investigated a June 2019 crash involving a truck towing a vehicle-hauling trailer that collided with a group of motorcycle riders in Randolph, New Hampshire, killing seven riders and injuring seven others. The at-fault truck driver was impaired by several drugs and had a suspended license in Connecticut, but "deficiencies in out-of-state driver's license notification processing" resulted in the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles failing to revoke his license.

At the end of that investigation, the safety board recommended improvements to the "processing of interstate licensing notifications and federal oversight of motor carriers."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: NTSB to investigate Texas school bus crash that killed man, boy