A school bus driver has been jailed for one year and issued a 36 months driving ban after his vehicle became stranded in floodwater in January 2016. 23 secondary schools pupils were on board when Graham Jones, 53, drove past two road closed signs and ended up in the floodwater. He was convicted following a trial after denying dangerous driving. The incident came on the first day of term after Christmas for Easingwold School in North Yorkshire. It was fortunate that none of the pupils on board the bus were injured, but some had to be carried to safety by firefighters.
Jones claims he made a “genuine mistake” and says he had only seen one road closed sign which he believed referred to a bridge closure nearby. He had managed to drive through one stretch of water without incident, but the vehicle became stuck when he attempted a second stretch. The water pushed the bus into a ditch resulting in an incredibly dangerous scenario where the bus was tilting with floodwater knee to waist deep.
A few hours after the incident, a traffic constable repeated the bus’ journey in a police Discovery 4X4. They had to put its suspension at its highest setting for the first stretch of floodwater Jones has driven through, and stopped before the second stretch after deeming it too unsafe to go further.
It is incredibly lucky that the pupils came out of this incident uninjured. The driver placed them in great danger; not only did they face the risk of drowning, but also hypothermia due to the winter floodwater being knee to waist deep on the pupils.
Always ensure you have competent people driving school vehicles and make the critical importance of obeying road signs extremely clear in any training, policies and procedures.
