france school coach crash

**cocaine** · 20-02-2012, 04:53 PM

can't believe how this hasn't been posted yet

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...er-charge.html

A British driver was today facing charges of manslaughter after a fatal coach crash that killed a teacher and left a schoolgirl fighting for her life in northern France.

Derek Thompson, 47, is suspected of falling asleep at the wheel as he drove a party of Worcestershire school pupils home from a skiing holiday.He will appear before an examining judge today after prosecutors ordered an investigation of the coach's tachograph to see if he had complied with EU safe driving hours regulations.It came as 11 people remained in hospital after the Sunday's accident on the A26 motorway, near Chalons-en-Champagne, 90 miles east of Paris, which claimed the life of Peter Rippington, 59.Mr Rippington, a hugely popular Maths teacher, had been in charge of a party from Alvechurch Church of England Middle School.Christian de Rocquigny, the Chalons prosecutor, said Thompson had been treated for minor injuries and now faced charges of 'manslaughter and involuntary causing injuries'.Mr De Rocquigny confirmed that his 'initial enquiries' suggested that the driver had 'fallen asleep at the wheel.'He said it had been raining heavily at the time of the accident, and that the coach had been seen by other drivers 'swerving slowly to the right and into a crash barrier' before flipping over and ending up in a ditch.Police said Mr Thompson had tested negative for drugs and alcohol.Mr Rippington's wife, Sharon, and their daughter, Amy, 24, were among 27 injured, four of them seriously.

tragic story, lorry/coach drivers themself argue how lax the rules really are for long distance drivers. especially when they're carrying a load of young kids, it's awful.

last year i was on a similar school trip and our driver fell asleep at the wheel. we came off the motorway onto the grass verge to the side and almost (literally was on the verge of doing so) tipped over, although thankfully we didn't. the coach was damaged but not seriously enough to stop the trip entirely. scared the **** out of me. can only imagine how them kids are feeling.

**dirrty** · 20-02-2012, 04:59 PM

just terrible. i remember when i was going to heathrow airport with national express a few years ago on my own and was very early morning (like 3/4am?) and the driver must of fallen asleep, because the coach was moving forward quite erratically at one point then suddenly into the other lane which woke some others up and ******* felt like i was gonna die

everyone was looking around so scared but he didn't even apologise or anything. probably was hoping no one noticed or something, but luckily for him no one complained i guess. moron

Catchy · 20-02-2012, 05:34 PM

This is well bad, yeah I know what you mean about the coach drivers are always complaining about the hours and stuff, I've even known some to go over their limit which they're allowed to drive! Rly bad!