TC said there was a ridiculous number of seat belt issues and it was the worst that he had ever seen
In issuing Darlington-based Enterprise Travel with a warning, Traffic Commissioner (TC) Tim Blackmore said the company had real issues with seat belts on school buses which had to be sorted out.
The company, of Forge Way, Darlington, with a 17-vehicle O-Licence, had been called before the TC at a Leeds Public Inquiry because of concerns over vehicle maintenance.
The TC asked about the relationship with Durham City Coaches and Leeds Coaches, both of which had O-Licences for 22 vehicles, and a common Director Derrik Collin. Director Kristian Collin said that they were all in a group owned by Derrick Collin. They were separate operations with no crossover between vehicles and drivers.
The TC said that a recent independent audit showed that the company was making progress in relation to maintenance but there were still areas that needed to be worked on. Two prohibitions had been issued when three vehicles were inspected during an unannounced maintenance investigation. There were brake and exhaust issues which should have been picked up on the regular inspections.
Kristian Collin accepted that the company’s mechanic had been at fault for one of the prohibitions and he undertook to get the person concerned technically qualified.
The TC said that there was a ridiculous number of seat belt issues. It was clearly a major issue for the company and it was the worst that he had ever seen. It was a particular problem and he had not seen anything like it.
