This month’s catastrophic bus crash in the NSW Hunter Valley has sparked an urgent review of bus and coach safety regulation in the state.
Key points:
The bus safety audit will look at seat belt use, driver training and fatigue
Transport Minister Jo Haylen says passengers expect safety
The NSW premier and opposition leaders paid tribute in parliament
On June 11, a coach carrying 35 passengers leaving a nearby wedding overturned at a roundabout in Greta, killing 10 people.
The driver, Brett Andrew Button, has been charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death.
It has rocked the Hunter town of Singleton, where several victims were popular members of the community.
In the wake of the incident, the NSW government has ordered its Bus Industry Task Force to urgently examine concerns around safety management, seat belt use, and regulation.
The task force will consider retrofitting seat belts on school buses in regional NSW, and expanding seat belt laws across the state.
It will also consider whether changes should be recommended to the Australian Design Rules for buses and coaches, as well as issues surrounding safety management, driver training and fatigue.
Transport for NSW’s oversight of operators and any risk management gaps in the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator framework will also fall under the review.
Jo Haylen says the review will look at what is in place and “what we can do better”.(ABC News)
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said if the review finds there needed to be more enforcement on seat belt use, “we will do it”.
“When tragic events like this happen, we need to look at what we can do to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” she said.
“Passengers get onto buses and coaches expecting to be kept safe and the task force will look at what needs to be done to improve passenger safety across the industry.”
Former State Transit Authority auditor Darren Lane has been appointed as a member of the task force.