The Star-Ledger

New Jersey, like other states, has extremely detailed rules on how vehicles carrying children to school or school functions must be driven and equipped, from requiring that drivers undergo training and background checks to mandating that transportation services carry adequate insurance.

Such requirements aren't government overreach. They help ensure that the public is protected from shoddy equip ment, drivers with a proclivity for driving under the influence or other threats to safety.

But commercial vehicle laws can clash with convenience in places where school districts don't offer busing, and casual van services have popped up to fill the void.

Numerous parents in some municipalities, including Lakewood in Ocean County and Dover in Morris County, rely on vans, which can hold up to 15 people, to get kids to school while their folks are at work. Work and home life can be badly disrupted when cops ticket van drivers who don't have proper vehicles or paperwork.

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