Plea over school bus brake tests

The current system for testing anti-lock brakes on buses needs to be re-examined in the wake of the Navan Bus crash, it was claimed tonight.

The independent inquiry into the crash last May found the anti-lock braking system (ABS) on the school bus was disabled and follow up tests on seven more Bus Eireann vehicles revealed their ABS brakes were not working either.

Fine Gael Transport spokeswoman Olivia Mitchell said she was very concerned at claims that all seven had previously passed the standard test for ABS brakes and other safety features.

“It calls into question the efficacy of the test and is the test is meaningful at all? If mistakes are being made in that particular area, what other aspects of the test are ineffective?”

The tests on the two Bus Eireann school buses and five public buses were carried out at the company’s Broadstone Depot in Dublin as part of the inquiries into the Navan bus crash. All seven vehicles had previously passed the mandatory annual safety test.

“You believe it could happen how one bus was disabled, but it’s difficult to understand how seven could have it (ABS) disabled. There are an awful lot of questions to be answered there alone,” said Ms Mitchell.

The ABS system is designed to prevent the brakes from jamming in the event of an emergency and helps a vehicle to stay on the road. It is understood that the current annual test for buses and heavy goods vehicles relies on checking a display light which indicates the presence of ABS.

However, inspectors have no way of knowing if the ABS system is really working.

Bus Eireann has now hired a private contractor to examine its ABS systems, while road hauliers have reported an increased focus by inspectors on their ABS systems during tests carried out in recent months.

Ms Mitchell said it was vital for a prompt end to the separate investigations into the Navan bus crash, which killed five teenage girls and injured 46 school children last May.

“It must be horrific for parents to be reding that information and why aren’t the reports that were promised being published? It’s very distressing for parents and the kids that were injured on the bus,” she said.

The Department of Transport said it could not comment on the adequacy of the procedures used to test ABS brakes in buses and heavy goods vehicles.

“We will not be commenting on anything that would have formed part of the investigation at this stage. We are awaiting the publication of the report,” said a spokeswoman.

Bus Eireann has said that there is no legal requirement for buses to have ABS brakes but added there was a careful maintenance system for those that had them.

The independent Navan bus crash inquiry team, which is headed by former assistant Irish police commissioner Jim McHugh, has requested more time to complete its investigation.

Bus Eireann said Mr McHugh had asked for the date to be extended two weeks ago because the investigation was taking longer than envisaged.

The report is now expected to be published at the end of September. Two separate investigations into the crash by the Irish police and the Health and Safety Authority are continuing.

A Garda spokeswoman said she could not comment while their investigation was continuing, while the Health and Safety Authority also refused to comment.