I expect some of you will recall seeing this in the news just recently, but this is an exert from "Mature Times" about it.
See what you think.

"A recent accident (so far cause unknown) involved a double-decker bus crashing into a supermarket in Coventry resulting in two dead and many injured.

Although no blame has been
allocated the fact that the driver was 77 years old seems to be vital to any investigations.

However, the release of new figures show that 9,000 people are licensed to drive buses over the age of 70, including two 90 year olds and about 330 in their eighties."



I honestly don't think I would be comfortable being on a bus with a 90 year old driver, would you?

The prosecutor, Mr Thomas says: “Over a period of several months or years, Mr Chander’s employers had become aware that the standard of his driving had deteriorated.

“That picture had started to develop in about 2012. By then, Mr Chander was 73 years old. In 2012 he was involved in two separate collisions.

“One involved striking a piece of street furniture, the other reversing into another bus at the depot.

“Both of the collisions were quite plainly his fault.”

The court hears that Chander was involved in another accident in 2013.

This saw Chander drive in to the back of a car - “again it was his fault” says Mr Thomas.

A further incident happened In 2014 when Chander damaged a bus as he struck a gate as he was returning to the depot.

The jury was told that in 2014 Midland Red installed a telematics system across its fleet to monitor driver performance. The system was called ‘Ecodriver’ and was a “spy-in-the-cab” device which monitored driver performance electronically by measuring features such as braking, cornering, acceleration and speeding.

“The chief purpose of the system was to promote ‘smooth and economical driving’, but it also allowed monitoring of safe driving performance,” says Mr Thomas.

He says that if a driver drove well under the system, they would get a small bonus payment at the end of the month. If they drove badly, they would get a warning letter.

Between July 2014 and September 2015 Mr Chander received 24 letters relating to his Ecodriver performance.

The court hears that eight of the letters were warning him about his braking and cornering, and the other 16 were simply to notify him that his scores were too high to qualify for an incentive payment.

“He was asked on two occasions to attend a one-to-one meeting to discuss his performance but he was apparently too busy to attend those meetings,” says Mr Thomas.

Apologies Omah and Tara, I didn't realise this man's case was still going on.

The jury in the trial today heard what was said in those interviews with Chander telling officers that after being at the bus stop in Hales Street, he checked his mirrors before indicating, ready to pull off, and then released the brake.

He told police: “I passed the bus in front of me and then feel the accelerator. The bus is running out of control. I tried to put the footbrake on and it didn’t work.”

He said that he went over the pavement and two flagpoles - “I then thought ‘oh my god’. I couldn’t turn right as something was wrong with the steering,” said Chander.

After being questioned by detectives, Chander said that during the incident the bus was “revving up fast”, even after he took his foot off the accelerator, and he “switched the engine off as something was going wrong”.

A police officer asked: “So you pulled off slowly and put your foot on the accelerator and then took it off and it was still revving?”

Chander agreed and added: “It goes very fast all of a sudden.”

Following a break, Chander returned for the interview to continue but said he couldn’t remember what he had previously said to officers and the decision was made, on health grounds, to terminate the interview and continue another day.

However, a medical assessment of Chander was carried out which deemed him “not medically fit for interview” and no more interviews took place.

In the witness box today was PC Andrew Salt, a member of West Midlands Police’s regional collision investigation unit. He stated that analysis of CCTV footage from the crash site showed that the bus “rebounded” back from the Sainsbury’s store about one metre following the initial impact, before moving forward again up to the store and then coming to a halt.

PC Salt said this meant “the driver was still pressing the accelerator on initial impact and again when it rebounded and then engaged with the building for a second time”. The collision investigator said his analysis led him to a decision that the bus was driving at around 20mph in Hales Street and Trinity Street and hit the supermarket at that speed.

PC Salt also stated that he concluded that as no brake lights were seen on the bus before it pulled off, the bus had remained in the drive gear when collecting passengers in Hales Street. This is because if the bus had been in neutral when parked, the brake has to be pressed - causing the brake lights to come on - before it can be placed back in to drive.

Mr Thomas said that during his police interview, Chander had “claimed he had applied the parking brake when the bus stopped. In your opinion can that be correct?”

“No,” replied PC Salt.

Mr Thomas said: “Mr Chander claimed he tried to turn the engine off to disengage power. Any evidence of that taking place?”

“No,” replied the officer.

The prosecutor asked: “Who or what caused this bus to travel on this journey?”

PC Salt said: “Kailash Chander alone.”

After hearing five days of evidence, the jury ruled that Chander had indeed done the acts alleged, meaning that he had caused the deaths of Mrs Hancox and schoolboy Rowan by dangerous driving, as well injuring two others – Rowan’s cousin Paige Wilson and a student named Aleksei Rodin.

The accused cannot be found guilty in a fact-finding trial as they are unable to mount a defence.

The verdict left the judge in the case with three options in how to deal with Chander: a hospital order, a supervision order or an absolute discharge.

Judge Paul Farrer is yet to decide and will lay down his judgement at a later date.

However, the blame for the crash is not solely on Chander, who was 77 years old at the time.

Although he did put his foot on the pedal believing it was the brake throughout the incident and had a responsibility himself to ensure he was fit to drive, his employers at Stagecoach have already admitted their failings.

The firm – also known as Midland Red – has pleaded guilty to two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act of putting members of the public and their own staff at risk.

Bosses at Midland Red also received complaints about Chander’s ability behind the wheel in September 2015, but still continued to use him as a casual driver, despite some questioning his driving capabilities and even his ability to pass an eye test.

A solicitor for Midland Red, who will also be sentenced at a later date, previously expressed the firm’s "profound condolences, regret and sorrow" over the crash.

A bus company that ignored warnings about a driver who crashed into a supermarket, killing two people, has been fined £2.3m.

The bus company, which is part of the Stagecoach group, was sentenced alongside the driver, who was diagnosed with dementia after the crash, at a two-day hearing at Birmingham Crown Court.

Chander was handed a two-year supervision order, meaning he will be monitored by a doctor.

Death crash bus company fined £2.3m

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan...shire-46357500



A somehow unsatisfactory end to the matter .....

The public inquiry took place in Birmingham on January 30 and Stagecoach's managing director Philip Medlicott, engineering director David Morgan and operations director and transport manager James Mortimore were all present.

And now West Midlands traffic commissioner Nicholas Denton has released his decision following the public inquiry.

He decided that the number of vehicles that Stagecoach can operate between April 1 and 29 will reduce from 261 to 200.

Mr Denton said that this "strikes the right balance" between taking regulatory action and keeping in mind that the company has already been fined by the courts.

He also stated in his written report that the "repute of the company and of its transport managers is retained".