A Perkiomen school bus driver who caused two fatal crashes in just over a decade, including one while driving a school bus loaded with students, has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide.
Thirty-nine-year-old Frederick Robert Poust III faces up to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday in the Feb. 17, 2010 crash that killed 27-year-old Richard Taylor and injured 41-year-old Freddy Carol in front of Perkiomen Middle School West.
After the crash, Poust lied to authorities, saying he slowed to make the turn when the Civic rammed into the bus, but surveillance video from on-board the bus showed a very different story:
Authorities say Poust had run 10 stop signs and been talking on a wireless headset prior to the crash outside Perkiomen Valley Middle School. Forty-five students were on board the bus.
Poust was previously cited for careless driving in a 1999 accident that killed a 2-year-old girl. That crash touched off a national debate about motorists using cell phones after Poust told police he ran a stop sign while dialing.
