Taxi Driver Online

not seen anything saying one of the lorries was stationary ? In fact the police have said they have little to go on and are not releasing any details of how the crash happened at this time

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

It was in the papers the one that was charged with being over the Alcohol limit had been stopped for some 12 minutes in the slow lane of the motorway.

From reports in the bus trade press the minibus driver was also the proprietor of the business. It was being operated on a restricted PSV O licence.

No doubt VOSA will be involved and will look into tacho records, drivers hours and the like.

Without decrying this unfortunate chap, VOSA and the Traffic commissioners are taking a very hard look at taxi companies and others who run on restricted licences and regularly take severe action against the holders of such licences. Many new applicants have been refused licences, and many have had licences revoked, usually for breaches of drivers hours, maintenance, finance, not being their major source of income....

And so they should.

It's been abused for many many years, all the time under the 'turn a blind eye' approach from VOSA.

_________________
IDFIMH

update

M1 minibus crash: Ryszard Masierak and David Wagstaff deny dangerous driving

Two lorry drivers have denied a string of charges following a crash on the M1 that left eight people dead.

Six men and two women died in the crash involving two lorries and a minibus near Newport Pagnell on 26 August.

Ryszard Masierak, 31, of Evesham, Worcestershire; and David Wagstaff, 53, of Stoke-on-Trent; each deny eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

A trial has been set for 26 February at Aylesbury Crown Court.

Mr Masierak was remanded in custody, while Mr Wagstaff was given bail.
Four minibus passengers were also seriously hurt in the crash on the southbound carriageway. Both defendants denied four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

Read somewhere that the English HGV driver pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving.

That in itself has a max term of 5 years, but he would get a third off for early guilty plea.

_________________
IDFIMH

M1 crash deaths: Lorry driver 'twice drink-drive limit'



A lorry driver was twice the drink-drive limit and another was on a hands-free call in cruise control when they were involved in a motorway crash which killed eight people, a court has heard. The two lorries collided with a minibus on the M1 near Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, on 26 August.

Ryszard Masierak, 32, and David Wagstaff, 54, face eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving.

The lorry drivers are on trial at Reading Crown Court. The two men are also charged with four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, and Mr Masierak faces an additional charge of drink-driving.

The jury heard Polish national Mr Masierak had stopped in lane one at about 02:57 BST , despite there being miles of hard shoulder available. Minibus driver Cyriac Joseph was waiting with his hazard lights on to go around the lorry when Mr Wagstaff ploughed into the back of the van forcing it into and under Mr Masierak's vehicle.

Mr Joseph and seven of his passengers were killed in the crash on the Bank Holiday weekend. The group of Catholics from Nottingham's Malayali community were on their way to London to catch a coach to Disneyland Paris.

CCTV footage of the minutes leading up to the collision and of the crash were shown to the jury. Mr Saxby said the sound had been removed to spare them the "acute horror of what occurred".

He added it was important for the jury to see the footage so they could evaluate the standard of driving of both defendants.

Mr Saxby said the "catastrophic and tragic" collision was "caused by the driving of these two defendants". "In Mr Masierak's case, under the influence of alcohol, parking up in the slowlane of the M1, an act as flagrant as it was dangerous. "And in Mr Wagstaff's case, on a hands-free call completely failing to notice what was ahead of him, inattention on a gross scale."

The court heard Mr Wagstaff did not brake or decelerate before ploughing into Mr Joseph's minibus. Mr Masierak, of Barnards Close in Evesham, Worcestershire, and Mr Wagstaff, of Derwent Street in Stoke-on-Trent, both deny all charges against them.

The trial continues.

_________________
IDFIMH

F***ing hell.

_________________
IDFIMH

IMO David Wagstaff along with the people killed are the innocent people in all of this. This was caused by a drunk polish driver who had stopped in a live lane. David Wagstaff was driving on cruise control talking on hands free.

Certainly have a degree of sympathy for Wagstaff, but at the end of the day he should have been paying enough attention to be able to avoid the hazard.

What if it had been a broken down vehicle, for example?

Reminds me of a similar incident in 2002 between Dundee and Aberdeen (just past Forfar) when a truck was having a wheel changed on the left hand lane of the dual carriageway. This was also in the middle of the night, and another truck came along and ploughed into it killing the mechanic who'd arrived to change the wheel, and the trucker also died later.

There was a huge fire that melted the tarmac, and when replaced it left a slight bump in the road. I *still* move across to the overtaking lane (traffic permitting) to avoid it, because the bump is less obvious than in the inside lane.

Suspect the problem is that at that time in the morning there's usually very little chance of coming across a stationary hazard of that kind, and very little traffic anyway, so some drivers will tend to lose concentration, for whatever reason.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2212641.stm

I would imagine the CPS take the view that he should have seen the minibus and artic in front of him and reduced his speed.

_________________
IDFIMH

exactly we are ALL responsible for our own safety and that of our passengers failing to avoid a collision is nobody's fault but your own unless somebody else drives into you leaving insufficient time for you to avoid them and this was an avoidable collission in my oppinion

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

Minibus apparently had hazard warning lights flashing, stationary hazard on motorway at 3am yet the truck didn't brake or decelerate at all before the collision???

According to Nidge it was one of the lorries stationary not the minibus

_________________
Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

According to the Sun's report the bus was stationary behind the truck with hazards on waiting for an opportunity to pass:

"Masierak had allegedly stopped in the slow lane for 12 minutes despite there being miles of hard shoulder available.

"His lorry caused an obstruction on the motorway forcing others to slow or stop all together before moving around him, the court was told.

"As minibus driver Cyriac Joseph waited with his hazard lights on for a chance to go around the heavy goods vehicle, Wagstaff, 54, smashed into the back of the van, forcing it into and under Masierak's lorry, jurors heard."

That's one thing I can't get my head around though - makes it sound like quite a lot of traffic around, at 3am??

On the dual carriageway north of Dundee where the accident above took place, at that time I suspect you could drive a mile or two without seeing another vehicle on either side of the carriageway at that time of night.

I know the M1 near Milton Keynes will be a lot busier, but not as busy as it sounds in the description. Of course, these things are freak events, so could have just been a chance build up of traffic, and a truck stationary for 12 minutes obviously doesn't encourage the free flow of traffic, even if it's pretty quiet.