2007 National Express coach accidents

The 2007 National Express coach crash can refer to one of at least two accidents involving National Express coaches in the UK in 2007.

One happened on 3 January 2007 at approximately a 23:45 (GMT)cite web
title=Two dead after M-way coach crash
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6229719.stm
accessdate=2007-04-29
publisher=BBC News] on a slip road connecting the M25 motorway and the M4 motorway west of London, when a National Express coach travelling from London to Aberdeen overturned. Two people received fatal wounds and dozens were injured in the accident. A third passenger died in hospital 6 months later as a result of injuries sustained in the crash. cite web
url=http://www.itv.com/news/index_fa64579dd96b7b8e4f7aed4579343979.html
title=Coach company withdraws vehicles
publisher=ITV News
accessdate=2007-04-29]

A second happened on 3 September 2007 at approximately 16:00 (BST) cite web
title=Coach overturns in motorway crash
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/6976710.stm
accessdate=2007-09-04
date=2007-09
publisher=BBC News] on a slip road from the southbound M1 motorway leading to Newport Pagnell services, when a National Express coach travelling from Birmingham to Stansted Airport clipped a kerb and rolled over.

January 3 2007 accident

Background

The coach was on route number 592 cite web
title= National Express removes coaches
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6230837.stm
publisher=BBC News
accessdate=2007-04-29] and was heading towards Aberdeen. It left London Victoria at 22:30 (GMT) and was due to arrive at Aberdeen Coach Park at 10:30 (GMT) on 4 January 2007. The coach was also due to stop at Carlisle and Glasgow and other points in the United Kingdom before reaching Aberdeen as its final destination. The coach involved in the crash was registered "LSK 027".

Crash and emergency response

The crash occurred on the slip road connecting the westbound M4 motorway to the northbound (clockwise, remembering that vehicles drive on the left hand side of the road in the UK) M25 motorway at approximately the point where the slip road merges with the slip road from the eastbound M4 coord|51|29|52.13|N|00|29|52.13|W. At this point the slip road is on a downhill gradient with a right turn with decreasing radius, necessitating a posted advisory speed limit of 40 miles per hour.

Emergency services are reported to have classed the accident as a category B, which meant that the first ambulance did not arrive until 14 minutes after the call.Fact|date=February 2007 A total of five fire appliances, twenty London ambulances, eight doctors and one specialist Fire Service unit attended the accident scene. The injured were treated at six different hospitals. Thirty eight passengers were taken to Hillingdon Hospital, 16 to Charing Cross Hospital, seven to West Middlesex Hospital in Isleworth, four to St. Peter's Hospital in Chertsey, one child was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Paddington and another child to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough.

Two people were killed in the crash, one being a man of Chinese origin and the other being a woman named Chris Munro Toner, 76, of Monifieth, Dundee, Scotland. Another passenger, John Carruthers, 78, of Chertsey, Surrey, died on 1st July 2007 from injuries sustained in the crash. Several others of the 67 passengers on board the coach were seriously injured; some have had limbs amputated because of their injuries.

Investigation

The coach was removed from the motorway for subsequent investigation. Local police sealed off the area where the accident happened for a period. The police later confirmed that no other vehicles were involved in the accidentcite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6232673.stm
title=Coach crash firm withdraws buses
publisher=BBC News
accessdate=2007-04-29]

The driver of the coach was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, but was released on police bail. [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6233333.stm
title=Appeal over second crash victim
publisher=BBC News
accessdate=2007-04-29] . The driver was Phil Rooney cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6912263.stm
title=Coach driver faces death charges
publisher=BBC News
accessdate=2007-07-23] .

Aftermath

National Express has taken its remaining 11 Neoplan Double Deck Skyliners off the road for safety checks. These are all operated on behalf of National Express by Trathens Travel Services of Plymouth, which is a subsidiary of Park's of Hamilton. They were relatively new at the time of the crash, being delivered in October 2006. The vast majority of the National Express fleet comprises single deck coaches and services are not likely to be affected by the recall.Fact|date=February 2007 It was originally reported that the coaches would be stopped where they were (i.e. motorway hard shoulder) but this was corrected to that they would be stopped at their destination.

Neoplan announced on 5 January that all the coaches had passed their safety checks, and were ready to return to service.

September 3 2007 accident

The coach was operating the 777 National Express service from Birmingham to Stansted Airport, with 33 passengers on board at the time of the accident. Of the 33 on board, 30 were injured, six with serious injuries. Following the accident, the driver of the coach was arrested by Thames Valley Police on suspicion of both drink driving and dangerous driving.

References