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Post by busaholic on Jul 6, 2019 20:51:32 GMT
A number of important issues raised here. Driver had a PCV licence allowing him to carry members of the public, which rightly places a responsibility to drive professionally and be in a fit state to drive. Clearly this driver wasn't. One cannot have a responsible job such as a bus driver and take drugs, full stop. I can understand and have sympathy with the driver being depressed having been diagnosed with cancer. Having had that diagnosis there seems to have been a complete lack of support which really should have been there. There are organisations such a Macmillan who can help provide the necessary emotional support which may have prevented this tragic accident. Now maybe I am being unkind, maybe that support was there but it failed, we simply don't know. Clearly the driver felt unable to tell his employer what was going on and was unable to appreciate or in denial about the risk he was running in taking the drugs and then driving a passenger bus. Perhaps he felt fine at the start of shift and then felt he could not stop in the middle, not that any of this excuses what happened. I think it is difficult for the employer to always know what is going, particularly if the driver hides it, but clearly matters failed here as well. My big sympathies go to those on the bus, those left in a state of shock, and in particular those injured either physically or mentally, or both. I hope they all make the speediest possible recovery and have the confidence to use the bus service again. Finally a 2 1/2 year sentence seems quite high to me given the circumstances and relative to some other crimes, but then I know nothing, I am not a judge! When my wife got a cancer diagnosis six years ago, the first thing she did prior to her (successful) treatment was to give up drinking totally, which, given how much she had enjoyed wine in particular was hard, but she did it to enhance her chances of survival, as that was the advice she received. I've also known a lung cancer sufferer who refused to countenance giving up fags, with the result that his death was protracted and caused his family unnecessary stress. Regarding the court case, if the cancer diagnonis was presented as a mitigating factor by his Defence Counsel in relation to the sentence I can see why it would not have been considered so by the judge. In the past there has been at least one case where a car driver bent on suicide has deliberately crashed into another car, causing death and/or serious injury, but has themselves survived and been brought to face justice. Using their suicide wishes to propose mitigation was, completely rightly imo, dismissed out of hand, and may even have hardened the heart of the judge (we shall never know.) Incidentally, a well-publicised heavy sentence can nip copycats in the bag too, because there was a spate of such incidents around the time.
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Post by vjaska on Jul 6, 2019 22:44:00 GMT
I agree misleading headline in a sense however it does play a part as that is the reason he was tired , and if his employers knew he wasn't in a right state of mind he shouldn't of been at work but regardless the blame still comes down to him just lucky no one was killed . That's the press for you, overly dramatic headlines create clickbait Whilst that is usually the case, in this instance the headline is correct - the cocaine caused the tiredness which caused the crash. The only error in the headline is it was a bus station rather than a depot.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2019 9:10:03 GMT
The cocaine was a factor in the case. Only in that it caused tiredness. More to the point, should he have been at work at all? More to the point a driver of 30 years should know about driving under the influence of drugs.
I do feel for the driver being diagnosed with cancer which is a awful disease but if he can decide to take drugs he could have reached out to his employer. I don't want to sound controversial bit how do we know he hadn't developed a habit before the diagnoses....
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Post by sid on Jul 7, 2019 10:06:47 GMT
Only in that it caused tiredness. More to the point, should he have been at work at all? More to the point a driver of 30 years should know about driving under the influence of drugs.
I do feel for the driver being diagnosed with cancer which is a awful disease but if he can decide to take drugs he could have reached out to his employer. I don't want to sound controversial bit how do we know he hadn't developed a habit before the diagnoses....
Obviously he shouldn't have been using crack when he was driving the next day, the bigger question is whether he should have been at work at all? We don't know if he had a habit before that, a 30 year unblemished record suggests not but there little point speculating.
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Post by richard on Jul 7, 2019 20:48:28 GMT
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Post by rif153 on Jul 7, 2019 20:57:55 GMT
Will T154 be repaired or is the damage so severe that Arriva have decided to send it to the scrapyard?
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Post by richard on Jul 7, 2019 23:27:00 GMT
Will T154 be repaired or is the damage so severe that Arriva have decided to send it to the scrapyard? It will be scrapped 😉
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Post by vjaska on Jul 8, 2019 1:22:23 GMT
Thank goodness that other bus had moved enough otherwise it could of been much worse than it already was not to mention if the 198 had arrived seconds earlier after seeing the pedestrians have a narrow escape.
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Post by richard on Jul 8, 2019 1:40:00 GMT
Thank goodness that other bus had moved enough otherwise it could of been much worse than it already was not to mention if the 198 had arrived seconds earlier after seeing the pedestrians have a narrow escape. Totally agree with you that no one was severely injured or even killed. Same can't be said about T154 I wonder if one could go to TH from AD to replace it
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