One area elected official this week pledged to craft a bill aimed at amending the state’s vehicle and traffic laws to include veterans’ military driving experience in the state’s minimum requirements for new bus drivers.
Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Howard Beach) announced plans to introduce the bill in the upcoming legislative session. It would amend state Vehicle and Traffic Law to include military driving experience towards the state’s three-year driving experience requirement for new bus operators.
Currently, under Title 5 of the VAT, Access-a-Ride and other motor-carrier companies are required to obtain the last three years of applicants’ driving records to ensure good conduct before being hired, Goldfeder said.
“If our veterans can drive a tank in battle, then they shouldn’t have trouble driving a bus,” he added. ”Our veterans should not have to wait three years just to prove that they have the safe driving records to be employed as bus operators. By counting service members’ military experience, we can open up employment opportunities to recently-discharged vets and help ease their transition back into civilian life.”
Goldfeder said his proposal was inspired by the story of Rubin Caminero, a Rockaway Park resident and U.S. Army veteran who reached out to the assemblyman’s office after his application to work as a driver with the city’s Access-a-Ride service was denied due to the three-year experience requirement. Caminero, a former B Battery, Fire Squadron soldier stationed at Ft. Hood, TX, from 2011 to 2014, enlisted shortly after his 18th birthday and was tasked with driving the base’s Medium Tactical Vehicles to transport M777 Howitzers and other heavy artillery for shipment to battlefronts overseas.
According to an Oct. 9, 2015 recommendation letter provided by his commanding officer, Caminero “drove military vehicles and used heavy machinery for his unit” and held a military driver’s license for the duration of his service. After receiving an honorable discharge, Caminero returned home and obtained the necessary state commercial driver’s license with passenger endorsement to work as a bus operator. However, despite his military experience and the recommendation letter he provided, Caminero was unable to meet the state’s requirements for employment. This, Goldfeder said, has left Caminero unemployed and supporting his family with public assistance and the remainder of his G.I. Bill funds.
Asked for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s perspective on the proposed bill, an agency spokesman said the MTA doesn’t comment on pending legislation.
