- Hunter Valley bus crash victims continue to mount
- Crash expert claims rail would have devastated bus
- Bus could have become unstable at high speed
- Guard rail design to come under investigation
Guard rails struck by the Hunter Valley bus likely contributed to the catastrophic loss of life, a crash expert has claimed.
As the death toll soared to 10, questions have been raised about how so many lives could have been lost in the tragedy.
Former Victoria Police crash investigator Jeff Smith told Daily Mail Australia those seated on the left-hand side of the bus didn’t stand a chance once it careered into the guard rail.
‘Everyone will be screaming for seatbelts now, but looking at where that guard rail is involved, if they were all in seatbelts it probably would have been worse,’ he said.
Mr Smith, who worked on both the Burnley Tunnel disaster and the Kerang truck-train smash in 2007, said while speed likely played a major role in the crash, the bus may have become unstable by passengers moving about in the bus.
‘It was after a wedding, so they’ve likely had a few, they’re all be moving about the bus and if you’ve got a full bus and they all go to the left as the bus is going around that bend, that may have tipped it,’ Mr Smith said.
‘Then again if they were all wearing seatbelts that wouldn’t have happened.’
Mr Smith said from his observations of the crash it appeared the bus was travelling too fast.
The bus driver, Brett Andrew Button, allegedly told his passengers ‘If you think that was fast… watch this’ just moments before the crash.
Button, a 58-year-old man from Maitland, allegedly made the comments over the vehicle’s internal microphone just moments before he lost control of the coach, the Daily Telegraph reported.
‘I had a look at the yaw marks on the news and I just said “he’s going too fast”. And therein lies the problem. It’s a pretty bad crash, but I reckon the guard rails (have done the damage),’ Mr Smith said.
The experienced detective said the intrusion of the guard rail into the bus would have crushed everyone it came into contact with.
‘In Kerang, where the semi hit the train, its intrusion into the cabin caused the drama. It was the front right-hand corner of the trailer that hit the side of the train that pushed them all back like that,’ Mr Smith said.
‘There was another one in Wangaratta in about 96 which was the same deal.’
Mr Smith said buses by their nature were not very strong once the structure becomes damaged.
‘Once you pierce the cabin, it’s a tin can. They would have all been on the left-hand side of the bus probably sitting in the seats and that’s where the guard rail has come in and hit them,’ he said.
Mr Smith said cable guard rails used commonly within Victoria may have caused less damage to the bus.
‘There wouldn’t be much data, but I would have thought that wire-rope barriers probably would have done the same thing and maybe not killed as many people,’ he said.
‘Wire-rope barriers are like hard plastic and cable and it’s got some give in it. It may or may not have made a difference depending on how quick he’s going. And it looks to me as if he’s going too quick.’
Button faced Cessnock Local Court, in New South Wales, on Tuesday morning where he was granted bail after spending the night in custody.
He was charged on Monday with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, one for each person killed, and one charge of negligent driving occasioning death encompassing all ten victims.
Prosecutors had opposed his bail, arguing Button may not appear in court and could interfere with the investigation.
The victims of the crash were among 35 passengers returning to their accommodation after spending Sunday at the wedding of Madeleine Edsell and Mitchell Gaffney at the picturesque Wandin Valley Estate.
Horror struck when the coach rolled at a roundabout on Wine Country Drive near the Hunter Expressway off-ramp 12km north at Greta, in New South Wales.
The couple were married out on the pontoon overlooking a lake as the sun shone down, before all the guests gathered for a group photo in the gardens.
Photos from inside the reception show the newlyweds cutting into their cake as a live band plays in the background.
The bride arrived at the ceremony in a restored 1952 Beetle convertible, which her dad had been working on to have it ready in time for the wedding.
She and Mr Gaffney held an intimate ‘first look’ before the ceremony, before jetting off in the convertible for further photos.
The couple’s celebrant described them as a ‘beautiful’ couple in a series of social media posts prior to the tragedy.
‘I’m so happy to have married them,’ she said.
A woman who worked at the function told Daily Mail Australia there were about 100 people at the wedding.