Merseypride

[mbonwick]

RE: Merseypride
First of all, what a terrible incident. My thoughts to all involved.

Next - what the witness has said about it being driven carefully does not in any way confirm the poor driver had a heart attack. He could have had a micro-sleep at the wrong second (yes that does happen to fit, well rested people), or just not seen the bend - that section is the first until bend after a long, lit section.

Although I've no doubt the coach wasn't overloaded in the sense that everyone had a seat, I'm still not sure of the legal/insurance position of ordinary passengers using the crew jump seat.

If its the EOS pictured on the Merseypride website, its just over 17 years old (M625RCP, new 3/95). I can understand people saying that a newer vehicle would have done better, but in all honesty the outcome would probably have been worse.
Back then most chassis were built from steel with ridiculous margins of safety and strength. Nowadays we have the "lighter is better" school of thought, which means those safety margins are much smaller. Add that to the fact that new coaches have more glass round the front, and you see where I'm coming from.

I'm sure we all know just how good the B10M chassis is for coaches, and many are around a similar age. They're perfectly roadworthy and suitable for what they do, so why replace them unnecessarily? Would I have sent a 17 year old coach on such a long trip? Hard to say without knowing its mechanical state and history, but probably. At least you know if it fails its probably a major mechanical failure, which is easy to diagnose, than a pathetic ECU/electrical problem which are a pain in the ****.

There's no question the coach will be a write off - you can see from just looking at it that the front is gone, the rest of the chassis is bent and cracked, as is the rear axle.

Once again a horrible incident and my thoughts to all those involved. I'm shocked anyone can ask about the coach first in instances like this.