What are the implications of repeat driving infractions for the PA personal injury attorney?
Does repeat offense create a presumption of fault in a civil case,when that civil case stems from a criminal act? Or, does the fact that certain details were hidden in a previous civil suit negate the responsibility of a school district for having hired a bad bus driver?
Nearly a decade ago, Frederick Patrick Poust III was driving while dialing on his cellular phone. As a result, he slammed into a car, killing 2 year old Morgan Lee Pena.
The Pena family subsequently filed a lawsuit against Poust, settling in the fatal accident case. The truth is that his driving record was only modestly impacted; given that distracted driving laws weren't in place at the time. Furthermore, the lawsuit had a confidentiality agreement which prohibited the family from speaking publicly about the driver.
Ten years later, Poust is driving a school bus. And big surprise-- he killed again. Last month, while fiddling with his iPod, Poust ran ten stop signs and veered into a turn, crashing into a Honda Civic in the process. He killed a passenger in the Civic. In addition to potential vehicular homicide, Poust endangered the lives of the 45 children on the school bus.
Now, Pennsylvania personal injury attorneys will be seeing some legislative change with regards to driving records for bus drivers. No longer may school boards and districts plead ignorance on the driving records of their drivers. Starting in fall, school districts can review a bus driver applicant's driving history before hiring the driver.
And that allowance gives the school boards an impetus to hire responsibly.
In this case, Poust was a repeat offender, but his history of bad driving was sealed from public eyes. As a result, he placed the lives of 45 children in jeopardy, as he road-raced across Pennsylvania streets, killing an innocent passenger in another vehicle in the process.
Given that the school district only had limited information on Poust's "minor" driving infraction from 1999, can you really blame them for hiring him, when the facts were never clear to begin with?
What's a PA personal injury attorney to do?
Related Resources
- Federal 'No Texting' Rules Set Model for States (The Philadelphia DUI Law Blog)
- Texting While Driving Laws on the Rise (FindLaw's Law & Daily Life Blog)
- Find a PA Personal Injury Attorney (FindLaw)
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