Sen. John Fetterman got two speeding tickets before Sunday’s crash, Pa. records show

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s car crash Sunday, in which he was speeding and found “at fault,” was not the first time the senator has been involved in risky driving behaviors, Pennsylvania state records show.

Fetterman (D., Pa.) has received two speeding tickets in his home state — the more recent one of which was in March for exceeding the speed limit in Westmoreland County by 34 mph. Before this year, he was ticketed in April 2016 for going at least 24 mph above the speed limit in Warren County, according to state public records.

After he received the ticket in March, Fetterman was required by Pennsylvania to take a “driver’s improvement course,” the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified people it said had knowledge of the situation.

In addition, the senator’s aides have said Fetterman has texted and FaceTimed while driving, ”prompting concerns among his staff and fears about riding with him,” the Post reported, citing three people with knowledge of staff discussions who spoke about internal conversations on the condition of anonymity.

Further, the Post reported, aides recently began to avoid riding in the car when Fetterman is driving and they refrain from contacting him when they know he is driving.

The article, written by Liz Goodwin, who covers Congress, said that Fetterman declined to answer specific questions about the allegations but a spokesperson for the senator called them “inaccurate” and “gossip.”

A spokesperson for Fetterman did not immediately respond to The Inquirer’s request for comment on these allegations.

The Washington Post report comes soon after a series of departures from the high-profile senator’s office that included the exodus of his longtime political adviser and his former chief of staff as well as three top communications officials.

A recent poll from The Inquirer, New York Times, and Siena College found that Fetterman’s overall favorability rating was at 48%, just 1 percentage point lower than that of Sen. Bob Casey, his U.S. Senate counterpart. An additional 41% of registered voters had unfavorable views of Fetterman

Sunday’s car crash, in Maryland, resulted in Fetterman, his wife, Gisele, and a Pennsylvania woman being sent to the hospital after the junior senator’s Chevrolet Traverse rear-ended the woman’s Chevrolet Impala, according to the Maryland State Police report.

A witness observed Fetterman’s vehicle rear-ending the woman’s vehicle just before the exit for I-68 in Hancock, Md., between Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Fetterman was allegedly going over the posted speed limit, which was 70 mph.

The Maryland police report noted that the person who was hit was “not distracted,” while it was “unknown” whether the junior senator was distracted.

Fetterman and his wife were evaluated at a local hospital “out of an abundance of caution,” according to a statement Monday from Carrie Adams, the senator’s spokesperson. The pair’s 16th wedding anniversary was also on Sunday.

No citations were issued, and the Maryland State Police are investigating.