The deadly crash of a school bus and car outside a Perkiomen Valley school wasn't the first for bus driver Frederick Poust III, sources tell NBC Philadelphia.
They say Poust was also at fault in a 1999 collision that killed a toddler.
The now 38-year-old man was dialing on his cell phone when he blew a stop sign and slammed into the car Patti Pena was driving in Hilltown, Bucks County, Pa. on Nov. 3, 1999, police said.
Morgan Lee Pena, Patti's 2-year-old daughter, was buckled up in her car seat, but didn't survive the impact.
Poust was issued two citations because of the crash, police say.
But Wednesday morning he was involved in another fatal accident, this time from behind the wheel of school bus packed with kids.
The school bus and a Honda Civic collided in front of Perkiomen Valley Middle School West around 7:30 a.m.
Investigators say Poust slowed to make a left turn from Rt. 73 into the school when the two vehicles crashed.
Richard Taylor, 27, who was a passenger in the car, was killed. The driver, 41-year-old Freddy Carroll, was airlifted to Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia with serious, but non-life threatening injuries.
Police are still investigating the crash and have not said if either driver was at fault.
But now questions are being raised as to why a man responsible for a deadly crash 11 years earlier would be allowed to operate a school bus.
School district officials say they contract their bussing out to Student Transportation of America (STA).
"They're responsible for all of the hiring, the background checks, all the paperwork necessary to hire an individual," said district spokesperson Michelle Brown.
STA said Poust has been driving for them since March 2009 and has an excellent driving record.
The company says the 1999 incident did show up on a routine background check, but that the details weren't available since it happened more than five years before the check.
"Neither the criminal nor motor vehicle reports showed any record of Mr. Poust being charged with a crime or any details about the 1999 accident," STA said in a statement.
They went on to say that several parents and PTA officials have called to offer their support for Poust.
Attempts to reach the man were unsuccessful Thursday.
