Photo: RonBailey / iStock / Getty Images
A van nearly struck a school bus carrying 18-19 children just before 2:40 p.m. on Tuesday on Route 7 in Pittstown, according to surveillance footage from Upstate Auto Sales. The van then collided with another vehicle before veering off the road and crashing into trees.
The 22-year-old driver, Angel Fernando Pandiguana Pachar, was arrested and charged with reckless endangerment, reckless driving and various other vehicle and traffic violations by the Rensselaer County Sheriff's Office. The 22-year-old is an illegal immigrant as is one of the two other passengers in the vehicle.
Joe Carista, manager of Upstate Auto Sales, said a similar near-miss happened to his daughter over five years ago at the same location when she was getting off the bus. On October 17, 2018, his daughter was nearly run over by a car passing her stopped school bus.
The video of that incident is below.
On Tuesday, Carista's daughter was about to step off the bus when she was suddenly pulled back inside just before the van sped by, the Sheriff's Office said. Carista spoke with the shaken bus driver afterward who said he saw the van coming on his rear camera and grabbed Carista's daughter back towards the stairs.
Carista said cars passing stopped school buses is a constant problem, happening at least once every couple of weeks with vehicles speeding by. He has installed cameras around his dealership since his daughter's 2018 close call but believes more needs to be done. Carista wants increased police patrols on this stretch of Route 7 as well as new road cameras or signs to get drivers to slow down and be more aware.
Pachar was released and is scheduled to appear in Pittstown Town Court on February 7 at 6:00 p.m.