Taken from the BBC website today:
M25 coach death driver is jailed
A coach driver who admitted causing the deaths of three passengers by dangerous driving in a crash near Heathrow Airport has been jailed for five years.
Oxford Crown Court heard that Philip Rooney was making a safety announcement while speeding round a bend when he lost control of the coach.
The London-to-Aberdeen National Express service overturned on the M4/M25 slip road on 3 January 2007.
Rooney, of Lanarkshire, drove like a "possessed" man, the court was told.
Christina Toner, 76, from Monifieth, and Yi Di Lin, 30, a Chinese national, died in the crash while John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died in hospital on 1 July.
Four passengers had to have limbs amputated, while 61 others were injured. Many had to be cut from the wreckage by emergency services.
Richard Latham QC, prosecuting, said the 49-year-old driver from Carluke kept breaking speed limits, as evident in the tachograph readings, as he left Victoria coach station for Heathrow.
Rooney's driving and heavy braking of the double-decker bus caused bags to fall off the luggage shelf, passengers said.
The court heard Rooney was delayed for half-an-hour when one family's luggage could not fit into the coach and he had to call a taxi to carry it.
As he reached the slip road for the M25, Rooney ignored the 40mph speed limit and was driving at 55mph.
Mr Latham said passengers noted the bus was being "driven significantly faster, as if the driver was seeking to make up for lost time".
When the bus clipped a barrier after leaving Heathrow the driver lost control resulting in the bus skidding and travelling sideways before striking a crash barrier and overturning.
One passenger had said: "After Heathrow the driver drove like he was possessed. He kept overtaking everything and going like the clappers."
Referring to the extent of injuries Mr Latham gave the example of Samia Berbiche, an Albanian national, who was with her three-year-old son and eight-month-old daughter.
In the crash she lost part of her right leg, her son lost part of his right leg and lower left arm, and her baby daughter lost one of her lower legs.
During an earlier hearing the court that Rooney had been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five other occasions.
He was also disciplined by his employer in December 2004 for tampering with a speed limiter on his vehicle so he could drive faster.
Oxford Crown Court also banned the father-of-three from driving for three years.
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy,
Another case where all the flags were raised many times before the accident happened...
Thanks
Nick-
I have noticed something interesting. If people were in a vehicle with one of thier kids driveing in this manner they would not tolerate it, they would demand rational driving!
In public transit with several passengers seldom will anyone speak up? Jim
Sounds like if this idiot would have had a gun, he might have shot himself.
So he goes to jail for 5 years but is prohibited from driving for 3 years.
HUH???
QuoteOxford Crown Court heard that Philip Rooney was making a safety announcement while speeding round a bend
If anyone here studies psychology...
Is that existential, or merely ironic?
Quote from: Fred Mc on November 28, 2008, 11:50:15 AM
So he goes to jail for 5 years but is prohibited from driving for 3 years.
HUH???
Different standard sentences for different charges that he was found guilty of.
He can drive the last 2 years while in jail. Time off? Total civil damages? HB of CJ :) :) :)
Who is the employer?
happy coaching!
buswarrior
Quote from: buswarrior on December 01, 2008, 04:02:25 PM
Who is the employer?
happy coaching!
buswarrior
As the article says the employer was National Express - they used to be the British state-run bus company, but went private in the early 1990s. They are also a train operator now and have expanded into other countries too. They run school bus services in America.
The main thing that struck me from the article was that the guy had been caught speeding in passenger vehicles on five previous occasions - you would have thought that the PSV licence would be automatically revoked after two or three at the most. Your
private vehicle licence gets revoked after three speeding offences within a three-year period here - and I would have expected a passenger vehicle licence to be much stricter.
Jeremy