The bus driver who killed two

[user1494670108]

It's just been on the news as the inquests are underway.
The driver mistook the brake for the accelerator and ploughed through Coventry at speed killing two people. He can't stand trial due to dementia, he's now 80 - this accident was 3 years ago.
At 77 he was working 75 hours a week as a bus driver!!! What the hell? How can this be?
I'm utterly shocked that his employers thought this ok. Apparently they'd sent an undercover trainer to check him who raised concerns and their answer was to tell him not to drive tired. If you work 75 hours a week at any age but especially 77, you're going to be tired!

Yes, I too am shocked at the lack of regulation. There are a lot of bits of information coming out of this case that are very worrying.
Originally I thought it was just a terrible accident, but that isn't what is becoming apparent as more is revealed.
I feel so much, for the poor families, but am very angry that he was driving the bus that day.

Apparently there were tons of complaints against his driving. His company said, "He didn't have to work that many hours" - that makes no sense whatsoever when they were the ones employing him.

I imagine thrre will be more and more instances of this type of thing as the govt pushes retirement age later and later

The BBC news report said he’d already had 4 accidents before this one occurred! I would think one was understandable but 4 was serious cause for concern and he shouldn’t have been driving, let alone allowed to work a 70 hour week.

6 months before this crash, the company were so concerned about his driving (presumably from complaints?) they put an inspector on his bus, undercover. The list of incidents, and poor driving on this one journey alone, is frightening, but they just let him carry on driving, just asking him "not to drive if tired" !?!?

There will surely have to be some sort of negligence case brought against the company, as they continued to employ him when there is evidence they knew he was not driving safely.
It won't bring back the two people who died, but might bring in regulations that reduce the chances of it happening again.

I don't think that there are any winners in this story.

But yes, the bus company need to take some responsibility for allowing him to keep working despite crashes and complaints.

We just watched this on the news in horror. The undercover report said he was speeding, overshooting every bus stop and drove off with someone still stood on the platform of the open door. Yet all the company did was tell him not to drive when tired. They should have the book thrown at them.

If I were a manager at Midland Red I’d be living in fear of a corporate manslaughter claim on those facts. Directors have faced criminal charges for less.

but his age cannot be a factor.
their hands were no doubt tied. you cannot simply sack people

He can't face trial but the company can and should. Letting him drive, knowingly, has to be corporate manslaughter.

The facts about the inspection and lack meaningful action after it will surely be damning for the company. They can't claim they had no concerns or idea anything was wrong.
And it's awful that anyone was working at all at 77, let alone that many hours.

we praise people for working at 77 and he probably signed a clause allowing excess hours

I'm pretty sure he shouldn't have been allowed to work 75 hours per week by his employer if they were following the regulations regarding maximum drive times/breaks and rest periods.

It was a bit of a strange story - he was the mayor previously?

Didn't quite understand why he was driving at that age with so many complaints.

I agree with AF. It's going to be happening more. I'm desperately sorry for the families. It's an awful thing to have happen, but why was this man working so much?

Its going to be absolutely awful in a few years in healthcare with tired, older staff working 13hr shifts.

OMG!
I totally agree this type of thing will become more common as the retirement age is pushed up. You can't sack somebody based on age.
I bet it will come out the bus companies hands were tired with the fact he still had his licence. DVLA don't seem to want to do proper checks on people we rely on people stopping driving when they see fit.

How many people need to die because of ill people driving when they shouldn't be before something is done?
12 people in Glasgow (10 under a bin lorry & 2 under a 4x4) within about a year or so.

I heard on the BBC quick report earlier this evening that the company will probably be dinged by health and safety for allowing him to drive. They shouldn't have been scheduling him for 75 hour work weeks after telling him to not drive when he's tired. They had him doing double time (75 hours/week) for 3 weeks straight prior to the accident! He was working a double shift when the incident occurred. The families should sue the company, including the bus driver's family.

Utterly ridiculous that he could still drive. The medical requirements for bus drivers are the same as HGV drivers, and need renewing every year once you're past 70. They want to have a very close look at the doctor who passed him fit.

While you can't sack someone based on age, you can choose not to give them excessive hours, especially when they're on a casual contract! And you could take proper action, including possibly sacking them, if they're doing their job badly, regardless of age. Company look very culpable to me. Hardly 'hands tied'.

I can see new legislation coming in regard to bus drivers working hours as a result of this incident - just seems so entirely avoidable if they had heeded the earlier warnings. It is such a shocking lack of care to the public, I can't imagine what the families involved are going through right now, knowing the driver's background of dangerous driving.

This is one instance where I do think the company needs to be hit hard in the pocket by legal action from the families. It's amazing that more people were not hurt at the time.

The thing is that working hours are already controlled for vocational drivers, and there's no opt-out as there is for other workers. BUT: there has never been a prosecution brought for exceeding them. I think that's going to change very quickly.

There already are regulations around working hours for drivers. DP is a bus driver and was previously an HGV driver. His hours and shifts are very precisely worked out.

Ah cross post with you there Disgrace!