N.J. Transit bus driver charged with vehicular
homicide in Passaic fatal accident
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Last updated: Thursday October 4, 2012, 9:52 PM
BY JUSTO BAUTISTA AND KAREN
ROUSE
STAFF WRITERS
The Record
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An NJ Transit bus driver who
allegedly ran a red light in Passaic
last month, striking and killing a passenger who had just gotten off her bus,
was arrested Thursday and charged with vehicular homicide, authorities said.
Catherine Collier, 65, of Passaic was being held at the Passaic County Jail
in Paterson with bail set at
$50,000.
Collier, who has worked for NJ Transit
for 25 years, had been suspended with pay from her $52,000-a-year job while the
transit agency conducted an internal investigation, said a spokeswoman, Nancy
Snyder. That investigation is ongoing, Snyder said.
“We are cooperating fully with the
investigation,” she added, referring to the criminal probe.
Joseph Currier, 49, of Passaic, had just gotten off the
bus around 6:30 a.m. on Sept. 27 near the intersection of Main and Brook
avenues, and was in a crosswalk when the same bus struck him, authorities said.
A passenger told authorities that
Collier accelerated the bus as the traffic light turned from yellow to red and
running the red light, Passaic
County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes said in a statement.
The passenger saw the victim’s face
hit the windshield as Collier proceeded through the intersection, Valdes said.
Collier traveled an additional 40 to
50 yards before stopping, despite passengers and a man banging on the outside
of the bus yelling for her to stop, Valdes said. About 50 passengers were on
the bus, none of whom were injured.
A witness who was in a car on Brook
Avenue waiting to make a left turn onto Main Avenue recalled being surprised
that the bus ran the red light in front of her. She did not witness the impact,
but she saw Currier underneath the bus and called 911, Valdes said.
Firefighters had to extricate
Currier from beneath the bus, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Rev. Jose Lopez from St. Nicholas Church gave last rites over Currier’s
body before it was removed by the medical examiner’s office. Currier and his
mother were parishioners at the church.Currier, a big, quiet man, was the son of a Passaic deputy fire chief who died several years ago. He was a familiar figure in the neighborhood, known for wearing his Yankees cap and for his daily morning walks from the home that he shared with his mother to the Te-Amo store on Main Avenue, where he bought newspapers and boarded a bus to Jersey City and his job as a machine operator.
Snyder said drivers undergo 18 days of training, including behind-the-wheel and classroom sessions, in addition to learning the fare table.
A drug and alcohol test was administered as part of NJ Transit’s investigation into the accident, Snyder said. The results of those tests are pending, she said.
Since Jan. 1, 2008, there have been 15 fatal pedestrian accidents involving NJ Transit buses, Snyder said. In all of those incidents, only one driver received a summons.
Vehicular homicide carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail, with 85 percent of that sentence to be served before parole eligibility.
Email: bautista@northjersey.com
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