School bus tyre blowout

Thu 29 Oct 2009, 21:29

a simple thing blown out of all proportian as is with all incomers.

Fri 16 Oct 2009, 19:13

Malcolm - I completely agree with you. To leave children injured and simply drive away is deplorable and should be exposed and subsequently investigated. You have my full support

Thu 15 Oct 2009, 21:26

Given that the driver just disappeared leaving my daughter and friends bleeding from multiple wounds I don't give a monkey's lump of ordure over their jobs. I want to know what procedures there were in place to be followed and if not, why not. That is more than just hanging out the driver to twist in the wind, though his judgment was clearly deplorable, if he had no guidance then that is some sort of mitigation. School bussing in this country is a scandal - I thought I had made that clear and went out of my way to "systematise" the issues that I was raising. I find some of the comments on this thread personally insulting and flippant for what could have been a major tragedy had the children been sitting on the grass - AS THEY NORMALLY DO.

Thu 15 Oct 2009, 19:08

dont talk to the press feeding the vultures could lose people there jobs.

Thu 15 Oct 2009, 11:02

Hello - I'm at journalist at BBC Oxford. We are chasing up this story to see what the health and safety executive has to say. I am keen to hear from parents about what happened...I see Malcolm Blackmore posted the original story - does anyone have any contacts for him or other parents please?
Kate - 01865 889099

Fri 9 Oct 2009, 16:24

Firstly I'm quite sure the RH buses are not as old as some of the buses Worths used to use when I went to Chippy - age/ being "clapped out" isn't a problem, it's the maintenance of the vehicle. And I do admit my daughter has just come home late because the "gears failed" (her words) on her bus and it started to roll backwards down a hill.

Secondly, while the driver obviously should have checked the children it used to be a fact that any group of kids hanging around by the back of a vehicle when it made a loud noise would pretend to be injured, so it's quite likely the driver just thought they were messing about and because he had to drop the rest of the children off, he'd carry on to the next stop.

Thu 8 Oct 2009, 16:03

I think matt has a point ,maybe we all ought to wait and see exactly what happened because i would think the police would be involved where children or members of the public got hurt .Surely the forum is not the place to hang the driver out to dry before we know the facts .

Thu 8 Oct 2009, 10:05

To me the key issue is the driver driving off - accepting that tires can blow out, even on well-maintained vehicles (although the state of maintenance should of course be investigated, considering this is a school bus and children got hurt). It seems impossible that the driver didn't notice the explosion and its effects; making it very irresponsible to drive away on two counts. Firstly, he should have checked whether the explosion had caused any damage and taken responsible action to deal with it. Secondly, he drove away in a bus with one blown out tire, which seems to me rather dangerous - again especially considering there were children on board. I would be very interested in hearing RH's and the driver's responses to this as well as the Council's.

Thu 8 Oct 2009, 08:32

Er...I think you'll find that the majority of RH's vehilces are far from "clapped out". Millions of people and businesses lease vehicles, so what's wrong with a bus company doing the same? The terms of vehicle leasing generally insist on regular maintenance in accordance with the manufacturer's warranty.

Wed 7 Oct 2009, 08:33

Malcolm Blackmore posted as a news item the fact that children waiting for their school bus were injured by debris from an exploding tyre.

While tyres can blow out at any time (it happened to me once in the outside lane of a busy motorway, and I can tell you it's terrifying), when it happens on a school bus there should be a proper inquiry to ensure that neither the company nor the driver are at fault.

When it is claimed that the driver simply drove the bus off without attending to the incident, it sounds even more serious. Rather serious questions spring to mind. For example, did he drive the bus away because he did not want police or parents examining it too closely before he could get it back to the depot?

Is anyone following this up? There will be some kind of enquiry, either by the DTI or by the county council, if not both, and clearly parents and children should be heard as part of this. The relevant officers at County Hall will advise.

The bus company involved, RH Transport, are securing a lot of school bus contracts locally by submitting lower bids than their rivals, and also outbid Worth's to run the service between Chipping Norton and Witney (using leased vehicles that some might describe as clapped out, though presumably properly maintained, and drivers working almost a 12 hour day with a break of 20-30 minutes every two hours). This incident suggests to me that questions should be asked.