City Council: Ban Tinted Windows in Daycare Vans, School Buses

Nobody realized that 17-month-old Gabriel Josh-Cazir Pierre had never made it to his daycare facility when the driver of a school bus van parked at home. Forgotten for hours in the hot afternoon of Sept. 12, the baby died outside the Floyd Street home. 

Had the van's windows not been tinted, Gabriel might be alive today, some say. 

"The truth is, we don't know, but it's very possible someone might have seen Gabriel in this van and intervened," City Councilor At-Large Ayanna Pressley said Wednesday at the city council's as she introduced a proposed ordinance that would ban tinted windows on vehicles that transport school children. 

The law would forbid "nontransparent material, window application, reflective film or nonreflective film (used) in any way to cover or treat the front windshield, the side windows adjacent to the right and left of the operator’s seat and the side windows to the rear of the operator’s seat and the front passenger seat and the rear window," according to the ordinance.

Pressley said she lives in the same apartment building as did Gabriel and his mother, Virginia Cazir. "The strength of his mother has been inspiring. Instead of grieving, she has harnessed that grief into action and is working on establishing Gabriel's Law to bring about new regulations and stronger safeguards to make sure this tragedy should never happen again," Pressley said. 

Councilor Charles C. Yancey supported the measure but added that the accident brings other questions to the fore as well, such as what kind of training people who provide daycare services have. "That baby never should've been left in that van, whether it had tinted windows or not," he said.  

Still, Pressley and others, such as Maureen E. Feeney, believe the ordinance would be a step in the right direction. ""It could have been so avoided if it weren't for the tinted windows," she said.

Councilor At-Large John Connolly co-sposored the bill. It's also supported by councilors Michael Ross, Tito Jackson, Felix Arroyo, Bill Linehan, Stephen Murphy, Robert Consalvo, Salvatore LaMattina and Mark Ciommo. It was sent to the Committee on Government Operation for a public hearing. Pressley had asked for an expedited hearing.