Pennsylvania DOT finalizes expanded access to driving records

NORRISTOWN, Pa. — State officials have finalized plans to provide commercial driver employers with more information about drivers’ records.

Effective immediately under new guidelines established by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), employers will automatically be given a complete driving history through a PennDOT electronic service channel, The Mercury reports. Previously, only a 10-year driving history was provided.

In addition, crash information contained on a driver record will be expanded to include the “crash severity,” regardless of the type of license the individual holds, in order to specify whether the crash resulted in fatalities, injuries or property damage.

The records will not indicate the individual at fault for a crash, but the new guidelines will allow a school district or school bus company to contact the potential new driver for additional information about a crash, The Mercury reports.

State legislators called upon the PennDOT to make changes to its policy regarding driving records for school bus driver applicants in the wake of a fatal crash in February involving school bus driver Frederick Robert Poust III.

As SBF reported in March, Poust was transporting 45 middle school students when he attempted to turn left into a school driveway. Footage from an onboard recorder shows the bus turning into the path of an oncoming car. Poust’s bus struck the car, killing the passenger.