Bus crashes into supermarket

[Pints]

An 8 year old boy (as a passenger) and woman in her seventies have died when a double decker bus crashed into a Sainsburys in Coventry. Another eight people were injured.

Thoughts are with all involved.

http://news.sky.com/story/1563435/boy-8-and-woman-...

How did the bus managed to get that far off the road? Driver suffering from illness?

[cossy400]

This came up on my BookFace feed last night, and like you say hes well off the road.



As always thoughts go out to all involved.

[poo at Paul's]

Jesus how terrible. Sympathy to all involved.

Sadly, parallels to the Glasgow bin lorry in incident already being made. Let's hope the investigation into this tragedy is a bit more thorough.

Poor people.

[Jasandjules]

Heard this in passing yesterday, can only assume the driver had a heart attack or something?!

[Hub]

Very sad. Reports today that the driver was 77. I agree that this immediately does make you think of the Glasgow incident.

Would the bus company have regularly assessed his competence and fitness to drive?

[williamp]

Awful news? They are saying the driver is 77 years old. Really?

[dudleybloke]

77!
Seems a bit old to be driving buses.

[krunchkin]

Quite baffling. Do we really have doddering pensioners driving buses around?

[Legacywr]

Very sad news

Surely there should be a regulation to stop you driving a PSV at a certain age!

I'm sure there will be in the future!

[longblackcoat]

krunchkin said:

Quite baffling. Do we really have doddering pensioners driving buses around?

No, we don't. Medical regs for bus drivers are reasonably stringent, the more so if you're older. And like MOTs, they're every year.

DVLA said:

From age 65 years, Group 2 licences are renewable annually without upper age limit. All Group 2 licence applications must be accompanied by a completed medical application form, D4.

[Digga]

Caught a snippet of this yesterday. It's an horrific accident and my sympathies go to all involved.

My immediate thoughts were along the lines of others here - that is was most likely to be related to an older driver losing consciousness through medical issues. With the way driver's CPCs for HGVs have gone, it is clear to see why the driving population is ageing and I do wonder about the tradeoff for accidents due to youthful inexperience, as opposed to age-related nedical blackouts.

[johnfm]

77 year old driver??

What the fk!!

[Digga]

johnfm said:

77 year old driver??

What the fk!!

FWIW, he could be perfectly fit, healthy and safe.

But equally, from anecdotal observation, there's a good chance of obesity (occupational hazard as a driver) from which various secondary conditions/risks arise; eyesight, diabetes etc. etc.

[Munter]

My bet is on "Sudden unintended acceleration". Or as it's commonly known "stamping on the wrong pedal in a panic", and keeping it there because...well why would you stop pressing the brake pedal?

Common among older drivers.

[danllama]

Thoughts to those involved.

[johnfm]

Digga said:

johnfm said:

77 year old driver??

What the fk!!

FWIW, he could be perfectly fit, healthy and safe.

But equally, from anecdotal observation, there's a good chance of obesity (occupational hazard as a driver) from which various secondary conditions/risks arise; eyesight, diabetes etc. etc.

Yes, he might be perfectly fit and capable. A 77 year old outlier. I know a few, but they're mainly very active retired people, not bus drivers.

[Smollet]

williamp said:

Awful news? They are saying the driver is 77 years old. Really?

I thought the victim hit was 77 years old and not the driver

[Munter]

Smollet said:

williamp said:

Awful news? They are saying the driver is 77 years old. Really?

I thought the victim hit was 77 years old and not the driver

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-34442039

"The 77-year-old driver of a double-decker bus that crashed into a Coventry supermarket,"

"Pedestrian Dora Hancox, in her 70s and from Nuneaton, was also killed."

[C.A.R.]

Smollet said:

I thought the victim hit was 77 years old and not the driver

Definitely the driver who is 77, there was a bit of a debate about it on the radio earlier.

Must be horrific for the family at the centre of all of this

[anonymous-user]

johnfm said:

77 year old driver??

What the fk!!

A result of the supposed driver shortage of Bus and HGV drivers that is regularly being banged on about to DfT by employers and agencies due to all the new regulations etc ?
The average age of HGV drivers is pretty high probably gone the same way in PSV ?