After reading Patrick Goodwin’s letter [routeone/news/25 October] I wanted to urge as many commercial operators as possible to participate in a written submission on community transport to the Transport Select Committee’s enquiry by 3 November. This can be found at goo.gl/Fhc4Bf
How many commercial operators have complained about charities and CT groups running commercially, but without the necessary licences, insurances and safety standards?
If this is you, then please take this valuable opportunity to have your voice heard. It is crucial that the commercial sector get more involved.
I have spoken to parents who very sadly lost a child in the M40 Hagley School minibus crash. Their child was killed for no good reason. It would have been avoidable if duties of care had not been so lax.
For them, this time of year is particularly difficult as 18 November is the anniversary of the crash. 24 years on and still the same circumstances that led to that crash and killed a teacher and twelve young people exist. Quite shocking, so please do something about it, if not for your own business and passenger safety, but for the parents who lost children 24 years ago.
It is very plain and simple. There are no grey areas. The law demands that in order to drive passengers on a bus with up to 16 seats and receive a wage, you must have a PSV license and hold the relevant CPC training.
Whoever pays that driver must have an O-Licence and employ the services of a fully qualified transport manager. How simple is that to understand?
Patrick Goodwin is more concerned about telling us that the drivers used by his charity are MiDAS trained. What does that mean exactly?
Last time I checked, and asked the Community Transport Association to confirm that they only used qualified driving instructors to deliver MiDAS, they were not able to. In fact, they refused to answer the question. That is because they more often than not just use assessors. MiDAS is not a credible commodity. Can you imagine the state of the passenger transport industry on a safety level if drivers were assessed and then allowed loose without a proper licence and training?
Now is the time to get stuck in, get your submission in and, if you can and want to, ask if you can personally give evidence.
If the Fitzgerald family I spoke to days ago can do it, and I understand they will also ask to give evidence in person under the circumstances they are in and the sadness forever surrounding them, then anyone can.
Pat Harris,
Director, BUSK
