A bus driver involved in a crash injuring more than 20 people near Akaroa says his “survival instincts” saved their lives.
The driver of the Travlon Coachlines bus, Raymond Arthur, said he believed an issue with the bus caused the collision with a car on State Highway 75 near the Hilltop Tavern about 5pm on February 22.
At least two of the 32 bus passengers told responders at the scene the driver had a medical event shortly before the crash.
In the crash that happened on February 22, the bus appeared to have hit a tree, which stopped it falling much further down the bank.
Speaking from his home on Thursday, Arthur, aged in his 70s, said: “I think something failed on the bus . . . it could have been anything.
“I’ve been fit all my life. I remember everything, from the lay-by where I stopped to let them off to take photos, I remember every second from there on until I came to a rest at the bottom of the hill.”
Travlon Coachlines spokeswoman Claire Bruce said the crash was under investigation and had no further comment.
Arthur, who was released from hospital on Saturday, started to cry while recalling the seconds leading up to the crash and “seeing the lady’s face looking at me when I hit her”.
The bus driver said he decided against taking more evasive action, as it could have cost the lives of his passengers.
“It’s survival instincts – if you roll the bus you’re going to kill people so I just drove down the hill . . . I think it was my actions that I took that saved them.
“I know it’s the only way you can protect your passengers on the bus. If you’re by yourself you would probably try other things but you can’t do it with passengers.”
A witness at the scene, who did not want to be identified, said the bus appeared to have hit a tree, which stopped it falling much further down the bank.
“We would have had a lot of fatalities if it hadn’t hit the tree,” the witness said.
Eight people were taken to Christchurch Hospital, including six tourists from the Celebrity Solstice cruise ship, which was berthed in Akaroa at the time.
The driver of the car remains in a serious but stable condition.
Arthur said the last week had been “bloody horrible”. He had struggled to sleep at night.
“I’m feeling bloody rotten. . . . It’s my first accident in my life.
“Like all bus drivers we’re all trying to stick within the rules and drive safely and we try to do our best 100 per cent.”
He was unsure what went wrong with the bus, and said he remembered little after the crash.
“I don’t even remember getting carted out.”
Senior Constable Tim Johnson said police were waiting on reports from the serious crash unit. They were also waiting to get a statement from Arthur. Johnson declined to comment further.
Travlon also operated the tourist bus that crashed in the Otira Gorge, near Arthur’s Pass, on December 31, 2015. Thirteen people suffered serious injuries, including multiple broken bones and serious crush injuries. One man had to have his lower right leg amputated.
2015 CRASH: MECHANIC CHARGED
In December 2015, a Travlon bus overturned on SH73 and slid into a roadside barrier after colliding with a car.
A police investigation determined the bus’s brakes failed and were going to do so “no matter what the driver did”, Detective Inspector Paul Borrell said at the time.
James Henry Coakley, a mechanic contracted by Travlon Coachlines, was charged with injuring by unlawful act “in circumstances where if death had been caused he would have been guilty of manslaughter”.
Coakley pleaded not guilty to the charge when he appeared in the Christchurch District Court in July 2016. He is next due to appear in court in July.
-Stuff
