Audio/video in school busses in pa

[AmyMarie]

I have a general scenerio that I am going to use in hoping that someone familiar with the state of Pennsylvania can answer.

An accident occurs between a school bus and a small car. The bus driver says that the car swerved into their lane allowing the car's driver's side mirror get hit. Of course, the driver of the car denys responsibility and says that it is the bus driver's fault. No witnesses. No damage on bus found and no visible damage to car. State police trooper says that the accident is considered non-reportable, not going to be reported to PennDot, no point and no citations will be given out. Basically, it will be a battle between the insurance companies.

My question is, can the state trooper change their mind AFTER telling the parties involved that there will be no citations/balme/points? The reason I am asking is because most school busses have audio/video recorders in the bus and is reviewed by the bus company/school district for driver AND student protection. Once the video is seen by the trooper, can that be used to then find fault? Can the trooper then change their mind? Even if it was non-reportable because there was no serious injury/damage to the vehicles?

[greg72982]

Yes the trooper can, but unless bus cams changed from when I was in HS(1996-2000), they only show the passenger compartment of the bus. I could be wrong here though as I never needed to utilize the footage.

Either way the statute of limitations of a traffic offense is 30 ,so if it isn't determined within that time period the citation can be dismissed. Points are assigned by PennDOT, not the police.

[mcsap]

Agreed.

The video is to watch the kids , not the road.

But yes , if I were to find credible evidence of a " crime " after I told someone that I wasn't going to arrest them , I CAN change my mind. My statement to someone that " I am no going to ticket/arrest you " is not a legally binding contract.

If you were the victim of said crime , you would be hopping mad if I ignored any new eveidence after telling someone they are " off the hook ."