School Bus Driver in Fatal Crash Recently Passed Commercial Driving Test: Records

The school bus driver in the Chesterfield, N.J., fatal crash had passed his commercial driving test three weeks earlier

Records show that the man driving the school bus that collided with a dump truck in Chesterfield, N.J., last week had just received his commercial license weeks before the fatal crash.

Motor Vehicle sources tell NBC10 Philadelphia’s Lu Ann Cahn that 66-year-old John Tieman passed the last part of his commercial driving test on Jan. 26. The crash that killed an 11-year-old triplet and injured 17 children happened Feb. 16.

The violent crash happened at Bordentown-Chesterfield Road (County Route 528) and Old York Road in Chesterfield, N.J. a little before 8:20 a.m. Feb. 16, according to authorities. The school bus was driving students to Chesterfield Elementary School.

Isabelle Tezsla, the daughter of New Jersey State Trooper, Sgt. Anthony Tezsla, died in the crash.
Both drivers in the crash had no active points on their licenses, according to Motor Vehicle Commission records.

MVC records showed that Tieman’s most recent violation was for obstructing the passage of another vehicle, a non-points violation, in 2007. He also had a careless driving violation while operating a passenger vehicle in Delanco Township in 1994.

The last violation for the dump truck driver, 38-year-old Michael Caporale, was a reckless driving citation in 2003 in Plumsted Township, according to MVC records. He was ticketed for speeding in Virginia in 1997.

The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the crash.

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