Australia- Bus carrying wedding guests in Australian wine region rolls over, killing 10 and injuring 25, 12 June '23, *Bus driver arrested*

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dotr

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www.cp24.com

Bus carrying wedding guests in Australian wine region rolls over, killing 10 and injuring 25

A bus carrying wedding guests rolled over on a foggy night in Australia's wine country, killing 10 people and injuring 25, police said Monday.
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com
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''CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A bus carrying wedding guests rolled over on a foggy night in Australia's wine country, killing 10 people and injuring 25, police said Monday.

The 58-year-old driver was arrested and being held at a Cessnock police station and will be charged, Police Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman said. She would not detail the allegations, including whether speed was a factor, but told reporters “there is sufficient information ... for us to establish that there will be charges.”

The crash happened just after 11:30 p.m. in foggy conditions at a roundabout on Wine Country Drive in the town of Greta in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales state north of Sydney.''

The guests had earlier attended a wedding at the Wandin Estate Winery and were heading for their accommodation in the town of Singleton, Chapman said. One guest told Seven News it had been a nice day and a fairytale wedding.

The 25 people injured were taken to hospitals by helicopter and by road. A further 18 passengers were uninjured.''
 
dotr said:
www.cp24.com

Bus carrying wedding guests in Australian wine region rolls over, killing 10 and injuring 25

A bus carrying wedding guests rolled over on a foggy night in Australia's wine country, killing 10 people and injuring 25, police said Monday.
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com
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''CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A bus carrying wedding guests rolled over on a foggy night in Australia's wine country, killing 10 people and injuring 25, police said Monday.

The 58-year-old driver was arrested and being held at a Cessnock police station and will be charged, Police Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman said. She would not detail the allegations, including whether speed was a factor, but told reporters “there is sufficient information ... for us to establish that there will be charges.”

The crash happened just after 11:30 p.m. in foggy conditions at a roundabout on Wine Country Drive in the town of Greta in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales state north of Sydney.''

The guests had earlier attended a wedding at the Wandin Estate Winery and were heading for their accommodation in the town of Singleton, Chapman said. One guest told Seven News it had been a nice day and a fairytale wedding.

The 25 people injured were taken to hospitals by helicopter and by road. A further 18 passengers were uninjured.''
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I lived very close to here for a number of years. Beautiful place for weddings. Out in wine country, events are big business. Spectacular vistas, TERRIBLE roads. Combine that with fog, a roundabout, a late night, random kangaroos and stray stock, potentially rowdy passengers, and whatever factors the driver added into the mix (potentially things like speeding, intoxication, reckless driving) and I'm surprised something similar hasn't happened before. Hunter Valley is all weddings, wine tours, cheese tours (with wine), brewery tours... it's a lot of alcohol combined with city folks who don't know how to drive country roads. I don't know if the driver was a local or a Sydneysider, but just because someone can drive a bus doesn't mean they can drive one on country roads under these specific conditions.

MOO
 
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He's been charged.

Bus driver charged over crash that killed 10 people in Hunter Valley

The 58-year-old bus driver from Maitland was taken to hospital under police guard for mandatory testing and assessment.

He has been charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death — drive manner dangerous, and negligent driving (occasioning death).

And he's a local. Maitland is very close. So no excuses for not knowing the roads. He would have driven them many times.

MOO
 
iamshadow21 said:
He's been charged.

Bus driver charged over crash that killed 10 people in Hunter Valley

The 58-year-old bus driver from Maitland was taken to hospital under police guard for mandatory testing and assessment.

He has been charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death — drive manner dangerous, and negligent driving (occasioning death).

And he's a local. Maitland is very close. So no excuses for not knowing the roads. He would have driven them many times.

MOO
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Could a kangaroo have jumped out in front of the bus causing him to lose control? Flipping a bus on its side seems extreme for an accident involving an animal on the road. Have we heard any details about what may have caused the accident?
 
musicaljoke said:
Could a kangaroo have jumped out in front of the bus causing him to lose control? Flipping a bus on its side seems extreme for an accident involving an animal on the road. Have we heard any details about what may have caused the accident?
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From the charges it seems far more likely that he was not driving safely to begin with.

To be frank - I drove country and rural roads for a number of years. And roos and random sheep and other things are to be expected. So if it's foggy and you know the animals are out, you drive as slow as you need to to be safe.

My opinion? It probably had more to do with the roundabout. I think he was probably driving too fast, the roundabout came up faster than he expected because of the fog, and he wrenched the wheel - hard - to try and miss it.

Those roads out there are country speeds, not city speeds. Buses are limited to 100km/h. It wouldn't surprise me if he was going close to that to try and get the guests to their destination as fast as possible so he could go home. He wasn't thinking cautiously, he was trying to get it over with as fast as possible. That's not driving to the conditions AT ALL. Fog, you drive minimum ten under the posted limit. If you think there are going to be animals throwing themselves at your vehicle, you drive even more cautiously.

For all that this was a bus, not a car, it reminds me very much of the car accident in Wales a few months ago. That was a single vehicle accident late at night with a roundabout in the middle of a high-speed road, too.

MOO
 
Also, don't know if this law has changed in the last few years, so correct me if I'm wrong, but probably the reason the driver is fine (he's appearing in court tomorrow) while so many others are not, despite him essentially having only a plate glass window between himself and the road, is that while coaches have seatbelts, only the driver has to actually wear it. I've always worn mine, since the first coachride I took (when I was fifteen, I took an overnighter from Sydney to Brisbane to stay with some friends of my mum, pretty much the old Pacific Highway the whole way). The few coach rides I've done in my life, I have often been the only passenger buckled up. It makes no sense to me that they legally have to have belts on coaches and no one uses them.

EDIT: I realise now this sounded a little victim-blamey, not my intention, the problem I have is the ambiguity of the law. If there are belts on a vehicle, you should legally have to wear them, and everyone should know and understand this. That's all.

MOO
 
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TootsieFootsie said:
.
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TY, from link..rbbm
''On Monday night The Daily Telegraph reported an allegation from witnesses that Mr Button, 58, boasted to those on board the bus before the accident occurred.

According to The Telegraph, some of the survivors who have spoken to police allege Mr Button addressed his passengers through the vehicle’s internal microphone moments before he lost control and said, “If you think that was fast... watch this.”

''The bus then overturned at a roundabout on Wine Country Drive, near the Hunter Expressway off-ramp in Greta.

Survivors and close friends said multiple passengers had expressed concern about the speed of the bus throughout the trip, and had urged others to return to their seats for safety.''

Those victims are: Andrew and Lynan Scott, a husband and wife from Singleton; Zachary Bray from Byron Bay; Angus Craig from Queensland; and Darcy Bullman, Tori Cowburn and Rebecca Mullen, all from Singleton.''
 
dotr said:
TY, from link..rbbm
''On Monday night The Daily Telegraph reported an allegation from witnesses that Mr Button, 58, boasted to those on board the bus before the accident occurred.

According to The Telegraph, some of the survivors who have spoken to police allege Mr Button addressed his passengers through the vehicle’s internal microphone moments before he lost control and said, “If you think that was fast... watch this.”

''The bus then overturned at a roundabout on Wine Country Drive, near the Hunter Expressway off-ramp in Greta.

Survivors and close friends said multiple passengers had expressed concern about the speed of the bus throughout the trip, and had urged others to return to their seats for safety.''

Those victims are: Andrew and Lynan Scott, a husband and wife from Singleton; Zachary Bray from Byron Bay; Angus Craig from Queensland; and Darcy Bullman, Tori Cowburn and Rebecca Mullen, all from Singleton.''
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That is just insane if true! I have always liked taking a bus to and from events when possible because I don't have to drive and it really is safer. I've ridden on tour buses in crazy mountain roads, blizzard conditions, etc and always was glad i was on a bus and not driving myself. This driver however.......
 
So much publicity around this case and the driver has now been granted bail.

I think they will have to watch him closely, especially that he does not come to any harm either from others or by himself.

It would be a terrible burden to be carrying.
 
Detective Willy said:
So much publicity around this case and the driver has now been granted bail.

I think they will have to watch him closely, especially that he does not come to any harm either from others or by himself.

It would be a terrible burden to be carrying.
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I was speaking of this today. I don't think any amount of jail time could be worse to me than how I would beat myself up about an incident like this. This is not me saying the driver doesn't deserve the full force of the law. Just I think you would mentally punish yourself more than what the law could through at you. IMO
 
Bus driver 'happy to be going home' after being granted bail over fatal wedding bus crash

Police allege the vehicle was travelling "too quick" when it entered a roundabout before overturning and hitting a guard rail.

Magistrate Robyn Richardson acknowledged a "strong" prosecution case for the 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death.

Police opposed bail, arguing Mr Button may not appear before court if released.

The court heard 10 witnesses have given evidence about "prolonged dangerous driving" before the fatal crash.
 
Junior doctor among four victims identified as communities left grief-stricken over Hunter Valley crash

  • Community leaders are urging local residents to support one another in the days, weeks and months ahead
  • The 58-year-old driver of the bus was granted bail in court today
  • Mental health support is being made available in Singleton as the community makes tributes to those injured and who have died.

Outpouring of grief for Tasmanian killed in Hunter Valley bus crash

Tributes are pouring in for a Tasmanian man in his 20s who was killed in the tragic Hunter Valley crash on Sunday night.

In a post on Facebook, Carlton Park Surf Lifesaving Club confirmed Kane Symons was one of the victims in the deadly crash in New South Wales.

It's understood Mr Symons was from Tasmania, but living in Singleton at the time.

EDIT: I'll add, for those who aren't from here, Surf Livesaving Clubs are very closeknit, even though they're stretched out the length of our enormous coastline, there's a LOT of social interconnectedness because they all meet up and go to competitions and things, and surf lifesavers are very much esteemed here, like bush fire brigaders are. They are the folks who literally save your life if you get into trouble. Most of them are volunteers. They do a very dangerous job just so that Australians and tourists can swim and enjoy the water a little safer. The mourning just for this one victim is going to be very widespread.
 
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