n/a - School bus driver causes crash gets off with fine

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Sun 25 Sep 2016 21:34
n/a - School bus driver causes crash gets off with fine - focussed

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xFFcV1U7tE

Dash Cam footage captures the horrifying moment a bus driver on a school run ploughs into a womans car after running a red light. The bus driver has avoided a driving ban after causing a crash by driving through a red traffic light. 21-year-old Philip Onions was fined £147 and ordered to pay £85 costs.He had more than 20 pupils on board at the time.

It was also reported that the bus driver is autistic - I have have no idea how this could affect his ability to drive.

You can see that the lights were green for the car, having said that it was obvious that the bus was going too fast to stop but the car driver didn't take any action to avoid the collision- such as brake-swerve etc.

Also - www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3805343/Shocking-...l

I'm still a bit puzzled as to why he was allowed to continue driving - he did get the sack from the bus company thankfully.

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Sun 25 Sep 2016 22:20
n/a - School bus driver causes crash gets off with fine - Galaxy

The video is frightening! It's a miracle the car driver wasn't killed!

The bus driver should have been banned from driving and given a custodial sentence. Shouldn't be on the road at all after that, really.

I expect the bus company self-insure so this is going to cost them a lot of money.

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Sun 25 Sep 2016 22:40
n/a - School bus driver causes crash gets off with fine - Avant

I'm all for people with autism being given as much of a chance to succeed in life as possible - but I can't help feeling that driving a school bus isn't the ideal job for such a person.

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Mon 26 Sep 2016 01:05
n/a - School bus driver causes crash gets off with fine - Wackyracer

I'm not trying to defend the bus driver at all but, I saw that bus wasn't going to stop at 9-10 seconds in and if I was driving the car I would have been on the brake pedal at that time.

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Mon 26 Sep 2016 09:55
n/a - School bus driver causes crash gets off with fine - John F

It was also reported that the bus driver is autistic - I have no idea how this could affect his ability to drive.

It's the decision making that's the problem. I wonder if the autism diagnosis was declared when he applied for a PSV licence, which should never have been granted. Intelligent people with personality disorders can be very good actors, fooling judges with their apparent remorsefulness.

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Mon 26 Sep 2016 10:13
n/a - School bus driver causes crash gets off with fine - scot22

A problem is that the term autism is used to cover a spectrum of characteristics and there is a continuum of severity.

I suspect it may have been an attempt at mitigation ( I can't see any reason for it to be either ) If it affected his driving, which it might, then as has been said he should not be allowed to drive.

Probably some will complain of civil liberty but, if he has been diagnosed autistic, the doctor should be required to notify DVLA if it could affect driving safety

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Mon 26 Sep 2016 10:49
n/a - School bus driver causes crash gets off with fine - Wackyracer

I wonder if the autism diagnosis was declared when he applied for a PSV licence, which should never have been granted.

I agree. I know in the days I took my LGV & PCV licenses he would not have been issued with a provisional with the condition but, the days of the government caring about safety went out the window a long time ago.

I remember applying as a driver for LT at 18 and they said I'd be confined to single deckers. I also remember him saying "you'll be driving something more precious than a lorry full of gold bars - People"

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Mon 26 Sep 2016 11:37
n/a - School bus driver causes crash gets off with fine - Bromptonaut

Typical Mail reporting using words like shocking, ploughed and smashed yet managing to omit key facts like how/why light was run.

Although the prosecution said it was borderline dangerous driving the charge was due care and attention. That almost certainly tells us it was not a deliberate act. Kids on the bus were messing with the bell. Distraction and/or looked but didn't see or something around sightlines or 'reading though' to next traffic light?

As Scot says autism is a wide ranging term and seems to have been introduced here as part of mitigation. Given he has three kids at 21 his autism doesn't seem to prevent him engaging socially with the opposite sex!! And, given the proportion of male population with some degree of autism it'd be problematic for it to be an automatic bar on a professional license.

And although it's no defence if the Peugeot driver's observation had been up to snuff they would have stopped short of the junction.

Edited by Bromptonaut on 26/09/2016 at 11:39

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