buse safety requires abv's fail safe brakes

Today's SMH article below suggests that buses would benefit from an upgrade to ABV's fail safe braking unit. That would open up a much larger market than garbage trucks; which mind you is in itself a larger market than the mining industry from within which this company got it initial break.

Runaway bus leads to calls for handbrake safety checks
April 29, 2012

"A safety crisis" ... Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian. Photo: Janie Barrett

AN EMPTY State Transit bus rolled down a busy city street and smashed into another parked bus just over a week ago, but the accident was not made public, prompting calls for an investigation.

The incident is similar to a case in 2000 when a bus rolled away at Circular Quay without the handbrake applied. A tragedy ensued, with a 40-year-old government bus driver crushed to death between two vehicles.

Four years ago, a full inspection of handbrakes was called after another State Transit bus rolled off onto a train line at Epping in March 2008.

Advertisement: Story continues below
The latest handbrake-related incident took place on Loftus Street, when a driver pulled up at 6.30am to take a short break. Exactly 22 seconds after he left the bus, the vehicle rolled downhill and ploughed into the bus in front, stopping it from rolling into Circular Quay.

The windscreen of the bus was smashed.

After reviewing CCTV footage from onboard the bus, State Transit put the latest accident down to ''human error''.

The driver, from Ryde depot, has been given a day's retraining on proper use of the spring-loaded handbrake.

But the driver, who did not want to be named, told The Sun-Herald there should be a full independent investigation because the handbrakes on the gas-powered Mercedes buses had become worn and other roll-aways had occurred recently.

''The question needs answering why a bus would roll away after 22 seconds when there is no way to have these handbrakes only half applied,'' the driver said.

''They are either locked on or they spring back to off in your hand.''

When the bus rolled on to train tracks in 2008, the Minister for Transport, Gladys Berejiklian, was then opposition transport spokeswoman. At the time, she called the incident a ''safety crisis''.

Yesterday, the minister's office provided a one line statement: ''OTSI [Office of Transport Safety Investigation] is investigating the incident and State Transit is co-operating fully with the investigation.'' The OTSI said it had not launched an investigation. ''I was satisfied I wasn't dealing with a major public transport safety event,'' said its chief investigator, Paul O'Sullivan. ''I told STA to get your drivers to pull on the brake properly.

''It's a problem that could be readily rectified with a little more care.''

Mr O'Sullivan declined to pursue a full investigation into the 2008 incident. He conceded he was not aware of the death in 2000, which happened before OTSI was created.

The opposition's transport spokeswoman, Penny Sharpe, said there should be a full investigation after a ''pattern of incidents with handbrakes''. ''It appears to have been luck more than anything that no one was injured this time,'' she said.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/runaway-bus-leads-to-calls-for-handbrake-safety-checks-20120428-1xrio.html#ixzz1tM32bOQI