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Bus driver tried to miss cafe
Tuesday 10th July 2007, 12:00PM BST.
A bus driver involved in a crash which left a woman dead and six others injured was trying to avoid smashing into a packed cafe, witnesses said today.
The 65-year-old Walsall woman hit when the Arriva vehicle and another bus were in collision at Walsall Bus Station yesterday died last night in Selly Oak Hospital.
The Arriva driver, based at the firm’s depot in Bridgtown, Cannock, was today recovering from the ordeal at home after being discharged from Walsall Manor Hospital where he was treated for shock.
Witnesses, including a fellow bus driver, have suggested there could have been a mechanical fault with the vehicle and that they watched the driver frantically try to bring the bus under control.
It is believed the driver had been trying to avoid ploughing into a packed cafe nearby.
Read the full story in the Express & Star.
A bus driver involved in a crash which left a woman dead and six others injured was trying to avoid smashing into a packed cafe, witnesses said today.
The 65-year-old Walsall woman hit when the Arriva vehicle and another bus were in collision at Walsall Bus Station yesterday died last night in Selly Oak Hospital.
The Arriva driver, based at the firm’s depot in Bridgtown, Cannock, was today recovering from the ordeal at home after being discharged from Walsall Manor Hospital where he was treated for shock.
Witnesses, including a fellow bus driver, have suggested there could have been a mechanical fault with the vehicle and that they watched the driver frantically try to bring the bus under control.
It is believed the driver had been trying to avoid ploughing into a packed cafe nearby.
Keith Myatt, spokesman for Arriva, refused to comment on the claims but said a “full and thorough” internal investigation had been launched. He confirmed the driver involved was experienced.
The crash happened at around 11.15am when the bus hit a shelter, two women pedestrians, a van and two cars before crashing into the 51 Travel West Midlands double decker bus bound for Birmingham.
It finished up heading in the wrong direction in St Paul’s Street, a one way route.
A second woman, aged 59, was in a serious condition at Manor Hospital today.
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No comments can be submitted, unless P.C…Cant we say out no more.?. Luckey he could read Cafe.Few can.
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Well firstly I would like to send my thoughts and sympathies out to the family of the poor lady that died last night. I would also like to wish the injured a speedy recovery. I know Walsall and the bus station very well and although the bus station, in my eyes, has not been designed very practically I find it difficult to understand how a bus can go the wrong way. I did wonder as Arriva, and most of it’s drivers, are new to Walsall and the surrounding areas whether this was a factor in what happened or whether in fact there was a problem with the bus. The driver of the Arriva bus must be feeling so guilty regardless of what the cause for the crash was and my sympathies also go to him.
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Firstly may I send my condolences to the family of the poor lady that dies last night and to the people that were injured I wish a speedy recovery. I know Walsall and the bus station very well and although the bust station, in my eyes, has not been designed very well I find it difficult to understand how this could happen. My first thought was as Arriva and most of there drivers, are new to Walsall and the surrounding area maybe this was a factor in what happenend but even then surely that couldn’t cause what happened so my second thought was a fault with the bus. Regardless of the cause my sympathies also go out to the Arriva bus driver who must be feeling so much guilt for what’s happened.
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Rick……..And your point is? Your grammar leaves alot to be desired.
Sympathies to the family of the deceased, terrible incident, if this story is true then commendation to the driver for averting something much worse.
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Have to agree with Dawn on this one, I really can’t see how a bus can actually physically start heading the wrong way down the that road in the bus station? It would have been travelling a fair way already the wrong way and with the volume of traffic in that bus station I’m surprised that it didn’t collide with anything sooner. I would say that it’s virtually impossible to ‘accidentally’ head the wrong way down that road, so it will be interesting to see the outcome of any enquiry!
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Such a lot of speculation by people who were not there, did not witness what happened and are probably not experts in bus design and mechanical failure!
Until enquiries are completed by the relevant authorities is is absolutely pointless to speculate as to why the bus was travelling in the wrong direction. There may well have been a mechanical failure and there again there may not have been. As I say, totally pointless to speculate.
My sympathy to the family of the lady who lost her life in this dreadful incident and I also hope that those who have been injured make a speedy and full recovery.
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This is such a tragedy. i work in Walsall and seen an air ambulance flying over our building and then landed just a few streets down from us. Did not know what had happened until read the news on the internet. My condolences to the family of the deceased. There has to be some reason to why this happened.the driver maynot be at fault it may be the bus. so please dont make assumptions to what happened.lets wait and see what actually happened.
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I to was shocked by this accident and after reading comments from the first report i think that two many people were quick to judge. Maybe the driver was at fault? Maybe not? Untill the inquiry is finished i think people should withhold their judgement. My thoughts are with the injured and deceased.
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Why is being Pc being brought into this??? So what if the man was foreign or not or whether he could read…..we shouldnt speculate until we know the true facts, why dont we think about the family of the deceased and those who are injured?
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does any1 know how to read the bus was not going in the wrong direction it swerved to avoid the cafe causing it to end up facing the wrong way
my thoughts are with the victims and their familys and of course the driver for his quick thinking
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I’m sorry, but am I being thick? The report said that the bus ‘FINISHED up heading in the wrong direction in St Paul’s Street, a one way route’ not that the bus was going the wrong way.
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y are most of u saying that the bus was heading in the wrong direction at first, if u read the article carefully it says the following:
The crash happened at around 11.15am when the bus hit a shelter, two women pedestrians, a van and two cars before crashing into the 51 Travel West Midlands double decker bus bound for Birmingham. It finished up heading in the wrong direction in St Paul’s Street, a one way route.
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The driver was formerly from the Chase Bus services whom Arriva have recently bought out so he knows Walsall very well and is a very experienced driver.
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i think people should stop blaming the driver until the investigation is over. if the 51 bus had not of been there then who knows where the bus may of finished up, maybe tesco’s. i personally commend the driver for averting a biger tragedy. condolences to the family of the deceased.
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So many people blaming the bus station that is no more complicated than a simple one way street. If people are unable to navigate their way around it I think they could spend their time better than expressing their comments on here. I am slightly confused about the story of the driver avoiding cafe. As any local will know the only cafe is up in the far corner by the passage next to W H Smiths. The bus ended up facing the complete direction a considerable distance away from this. If the driver was trying to avoid it surely it would have been easier to proceed right and through the traffic lights not turn 180 degrees and proceed at high speed through a level crossing and towards an oncoming bus.
I know we have to be careful what to say and not judge until proven guilty etc. etc. but people seem to be making strange use of the facts that we have.
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As an ex Bus Driver for 27 years in Walsall, I have to say please wait for the official investigation to complete. If the Arriva Driver was an ex Chase Bus Driver then he definitly would have been familier with Walsall Bus Station. My heartfelt sympathies goes out to the Family of the Lady who lost her life, and those who were injured.
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i am abus driver and i have spoke to afew bus drivers.this bus had been booked of a couple of timeswith this same problem so i would like to no is how come it kept getting sent back out
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sorry to here about this lady who was killed in this bus smash our hearts goes out to the family involved in this what tradgey to go in this way r.i.p
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I agree with other people what till the investigation is finished and i feel sorry for the lady who lost her life i dont live far from her R.I.P JEAN
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