I write in response to the 12 August Sunday Express headline “Scandal of the safety hazard school buses”.
While I fully agree there are operators out there with vehicles unfit for the road, liability should also fall on Traffic Commissioners (TCs) and councils.
TCs have Public Inquiries (PIs) with the same directors who have had PIs time and time again but are left to carry on.
The blame also lies with the councils who rule the roost with the tenders for school contracts. Councils know which operators are yet again called before a PI, but they are still left to operate on school contracts. Safety is not the first priority – it comes down to saving a penny more than anything else.
When these operators suddenly stop operating, the council then want other operators who tendered but were not initially first choice.
If you don’t, then they can strike you down from the tendering system and you will no longer be a "preferred" operator on their tendering list.
Mr Rooney please do not tarnish all operators with the same brush. There is a large percentage of coach operators who operate school contracts with highly-maintained coaches with a reputation we want to keep.
John Bagnall,
Bagnalls Coaches,
Swadlincote
