RMV regulation hits SouthCoast daycare providers in wallet

A Registry of Motor Vehicles regulation prohibiting the transportation of school children in 12-passenger and larger vans for safety reasons is placing a financial burden on daycare providers.

Daycare companies are looking around to find smaller, 10-passenger vans and filing waivers with the RMV in order to use their 12-passenger vans until next year when the regulation becomes final, said James Pragana, president of Kids Ink, Inc., a daycare provider with two facilities in Dartmouth.

"The RMV changed the rule. They are not letting any 12-passenger and over vans on the road," Pragana said. "All the vans aren't legal anymore."

According to Pragana, all daycare providers are faced with the same issue as him.

Kids Ink has four, 12-passenger vans and is in the process of purchasing two, 10-passenger vans from a local bus company. Daycare providers use the vans to transport children to and from school and to and from a family's home.

When Pragana became aware of the RMV's regulation, he said thought he could remove two seats from his 12-passenger vans and the vehicles would be in compliance.

However, the RMV said removing two seats from a 12-passenger van to make it a 10-passenger van would not bring the vehicle into compliance with the state regulation, he said.

He was given the option of either buying 10-passenger vans or applying for a waiver from the RMV to use his 12-passenger vans until next year. The change goes into effect in August of next year.

Pragana said he checked into the possibility of subcontracting the transportation aspect of his business, but learned that no local company has the "capabilities" of transporting the children who go to his facility.

The new regulation, on top of having to deal with the changes caused by COVID-19, is too much, he said. "I can't see them doing this to small businesses. It's hard enough."

"It seems like it to me that the timing is all off," Pragana said. "I can't afford to buy two new ones (vans). I have to find new used ones. I feel bad for the companies who went out of business."

He laid off some employees because of the pandemic and anticipates he will lay off others if he suffers a loss of business because of the RMV regulation, he said.

Judith Reardon Riley, a spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation, said the regulation went into effect July 1, but has been "under development" with the school pupil transportation industry for over a decade. The regulations were introduced over the last few years, starting in 2018.

The regulations were released in phases to give the industry time to prepare, she said.

The elimination of 12-plus passenger vehicles — the final phase — went into effect this year, she said.

These regulations have been on the books for two years, and the RMV has held a number of public information sessions in advance of the regulations going into effect, she said.

However, at the request of the Department of Early Education and Care, and due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on the number of students a vehicle could carry, the RMV implemented a temporary, one-year waiver process, which allows companies to keep 12-seat vehicles on the road for an additional year if they meet enhanced safety and reporting measures, including additional training, inspections and field audits, to demonstrate safety needs and compliance are being met, she said.

The RMV reserves the right to revoke these waivers if a company does not comply, Riley said.

The deadline for submitting applications for waivers was Sept. 4, and about 88 companies representing about 300 vehicles applied for and were granted temporary waivers, she said.

The regulations are the latest in a nationwide move toward reducing the use of 12-15 seat vehicles for student transportation due to concerns about the safety of the vehicles, she said.

Although Riley didn't clarify the exact nature of the safety concerns, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said full-size vans, especially 15-passenger vans, are known to be less safe than most other vehicles, mainly due to their propensity to roll over, according to a story in the July/August 2018 issue of Safe Ride News, which publishes educational materials for the child passenger safety field.

Rep. Christopher M. Markey, D-Dartmouth, said the RMV's regulation doesn't make sense during COVID-19 times as daycare providers can only transport a maximum of three children because of social distancing requirements.

He said the regulation applies to everyone in the transportation industry in Massachusetts, but bus companies possess the size and depth of their fleets to adjust to the regulation, he said. Daycare providers do not.

Markey said he would like to see the regulation delayed until after the pandemic is over. "Not during this (pandemic)," he said.

Walter Faria, a New Bedford attorney and former Dartmouth Select Board member, has been helping Pragana with the RMV's regulation.

"It's putting people out of business. Only the strong will survive," he said.

The RMV wants daycare providers to purchase 10-passenger vehicles and 12-passenger vehicles are safer in his opinion. "These are rugged vehicles," he said.

If daycare providers don't file for waivers to use their 12-passenger vans, the RMV will revoke the registration of the vehicles, he said.

As it stands now, come August of next year, there will be no more waivers, he said.

"If you don't have a minivan, you're out of business," Faria said.