In the wake of the tragic death of five-year-old Lens Arthur Joseph, a kindergartner at UP Academy Dorchester, public officials, and community leaders are pressing for greater transparency regarding the driving history of the school bus driver involved in the incident.
Lens Arthur was fatally struck on April 28 while crossing Washington Street in Hyde Park, and the driver, Jean Charles, has yet to face any charges related to the crash.
Charles resigned from his position with Transdev, the busing contractor for Boston Public Schools (BPS), on May 14, just before a termination hearing was set to take place.
Prior to the incident, Mayor Michelle Wu revealed that Charles had already been taken off the road for retraining about two weeks ahead of the crash due to his involvement in four other accidents in the preceding months, including two minor incidents in April.
Adding to the concern, it has been reported that Charles was operating the school bus with an expired credential—the necessary license to drive a school bus in Massachusetts.
Authorities have disclosed minimal information about Charles, other than confirming his brief employment by Transdev and the fact that he possessed an expired driving credential.
The family of Lens Arthur Joseph, represented by attorney Matthew Fogelman, is demanding the release of Charles’s complete driving history to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the tragic event.
“Given the severity of the situation, we believe that a complete driving history should be released,” Fogelman asserted. “We want full accountability and full transparency.”
Governor Maura Healey has also expressed support for making such records public, with a spokesperson stating that the governor is in favor of amending regulations to restore public access to driving records, particularly in incidents resulting in significant harm.
After community frustrations regarding transparency in the investigation escalated, Wu and Superintendent Mary Skipper announced an independent investigation into the transportation contractor utilized by the schools on May 23, nearly a full month following the fatal incident.
Despite multiple requests for Charles’s complete driving record by the media, authorities from the city, BPS, and Transdev have not provided a comprehensive account of Charles’s driving history.
The Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) has refused requests to disclose Charles’s driving records due to the Work Family Mobility Act, which became effective in July 2023. This law permits immigrants to obtain learner’s permits and driver’s licenses without needing documentation of their legal status in the country.
As per a RMV spokesperson, “Under the Attorney General’s regulations, the RMV is not allowed to make driving records public.”
This restriction applies universally to all Massachusetts drivers, irrespective of their immigration status.
The New England First Amendment Coalition has raised concerns regarding the law and its interpretation by public officials, arguing that it acts as a barrier preventing transparency and accountability.
Coalition executive director Justin Silverman argued, “We’re talking about individuals that are on public roadways that could be posing a risk to all of our safety. We should have the right to know who we’re sharing the roads with, and whether or not they are a danger to us.”
In a letter sent to Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, coalition members requested revisions to the current regulations to clarify that drivers’ records should still be made public.
Silverman emphasized the need for clarity, stating, “The regulations should be clarified so there can be no doubt on behalf of the RMV or any other agency that has these types of records that they are public and should be disclosed when requested.”
After multiple inquiries, the RMV has released two heavily redacted documents concerning Charles’s driving record, but the redactions were so extensive that they did not even include his name.
Among the details uncovered, one document disclosed past speeding violations in New Jersey (2016) and Connecticut (2018), along with a 2017 infraction in New York for driving without the correct license class.
Another document documented the fatal accident in Hyde Park.
According to Massachusetts state law, the RMV automatically suspends a driver’s license in the event of a fatal crash for at least six months or until the driver is deemed not at fault.
The RMV has not confirmed whether Charles’s license is under suspension at this time.
Interestingly, the RMV has stated they do not have records of the four accidents reported by city and school officials, which also adds to the existing confusion surrounding Charles’s driving history.
Wu and Skipper had provided statements indicating that Charles had been involved in several minor collisions, including hitting a parked vehicle and bumping another car’s tire, with retraining measures taken by Transdev shortly following the incidents.
Despite these retraining measures, Charles was reinstated to drive school buses just weeks before the fatal accident, raising further questions about the adequacy of oversight.
The lawmakers who sponsored the Work Family Mobility Act, including state Senator Brendan Crighton and state Representatives Christine Barber and Tricia Farley-Bouvier, have not responded to inquiries regarding the legislation’s current implications for public access to driver records.
A spokesperson for Attorney General Campbell noted existing regulations permit the RMV to release documents it possesses, provided those documents would have been considered public before submission.
However, whether driver histories should ultimately become public again remains unclear, as advocates assert that the current interpretation of the law still restricts access.
Prior to the implementation of this law, Massachusetts had a policy that allowed better public scrutiny regarding the driving records of individuals like Jean Charles.
For instance, the public was made aware of the driving history of former Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara, after she crashed her vehicle into a home while driving on a revoked license.
Similarly, registry records indicated that Larry Leonard Diaz, a dump truck driver, had his license suspended just days before a disastrous crash resulting in the deaths of two workers.
The First Amendment Coalition president, Gregory V. Sullivan, stated that in situations like the one concerning the school bus accident, the public’s right to know should significantly outweigh privacy concerns.
Sullivan emphasized the need for a balance between privacy rights and public interest, stating, “Given the circumstances of the school bus crash in Boston, I hope the public’s interest would be given great weight.”
As the investigation continues and calls grow for transparency, one thing remains clear: the community demands answers regarding the incident that took such a young life.
image source from：https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/06/04/metro/bps-bus-crash-lens-joseph-jean-charles-driver-history/
