Following a fatal accident, Pennsylvania will now allow school districts and contractors to see the lifelong driving records of bus drivers. http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=209292
In an announcement Monday, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said that the records that the schools will have access to will include the seriousness of any accidents. The district attorney wants those changes to be effective in time for the start of the next school year.
This charge was sparked by the case of a school bus driver who was charged in a fatal crash in Montgomery County, who more than 10 years ago was also involved in an accident that killed a toddler. As it stands now, schools only have access to driving records dating back a decade.
The man at the center of the issue is school bus driver Frederick Poust, 38, of Schwenksville, Pa. He was charged with vehicular homicide after crashing into a car, killing its passenger Richard Taylor of Gilbertsville, Pa.
Poust had been cited in 1999 for careless driving in an accident where a 2-year-old girl died. That incident set up a national debate on cellphone use while driving.
