School bus brake testing demanded

FINE GAEL yesterday called for an independent road test of all public transport vehicles in the wake of the Navan school bus tragedy.

It is alleged the anti-lock braking system on the ill-fated Bus Éireann vehicle had been turned off or disabled.

Five teenage schoolgirls died on May 23 when the bus taking them home was involved in a collision at Kentstown, Navan, close to where the road was being resurfaced.

FG transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell called on Transport Minister Martin Cullen to reveal how many of the 650 Bus Éireann school buses in regular use had their anti-lock braking systems (ABS) switched off.

If switching off the ABS on school buses was “common practice”, she said, it must end immediately.

As registered owner of the bus, the company faces two summary charges which will be heard before Navan District Court.

The charges relate to the alleged condition of the bus, and are being taken under the Road Traffic Act 1961.

The DPP had directed the company be prosecuted. The driver is not to be prosecuted.

The girls who died were: Lisa Callaghan, aged 15, Claire McCluskey, aged 18, Deirdre Scanlon, aged 17, all from the Beauparc area of Navan, Aimee McCabe, aged 15, from Hayestown, Navan, and Sinéad Ledwidge, aged 15, of Senchalstown, Navan.

Meanwhile, Bus Éireann has already added more than 240 extra buses to the school transport fleet as part of a package announced in July to phase out three-for-two seating by the end of next year. These include 221 of the 250 buses being hired from the private sector and 12 of the 50 large buses which the company is adding to its own fleet, according to the reply to a question to Ms Mitchell by Education Minister Mary Hanafin in the Dáil last week.

These measures, as well as the promise to provide all school bus passengers with seatbelts by the end of next year, account for some of the extra €35 million allocated to the Department of Education for school transport next year.