 | This article may be excessively based on contemporary reporting.(March 2024) |
On 3 September 2007, a National Express single-decker coach, travelling southbound on the M1 motorway was involved in a crash. It was operating the 777 service from Birmingham to London Stansted Airport, via London Luton Airport, and had recently stopped at Coventry. [1] There were 33 passengers on board at the time of the accident, of whom 30 were injured, [1] six seriously.
The coach rolled on to its side after it clipped a kerb and then a lamp post and tree at the entry to a motorway slip road by the Newport Pagnell services area on the southbound M1 motorway. [1] It was ultimately confirmed that the coach driver mistook the entry to the service area for a major junction on the M1.
The injured were taken to hospitals in Milton Keynes, Northampton and the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. One of the injured was transported to hospital by air ambulance. [2]
The driver of the coach was arrested by Thames Valley Police in hospital on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and dangerous driving after being cut free from the wreckage. [3] He had earlier been breath tested at the scene of the collision. [4]
National Express decided not to withdraw the fleet of coaches to conduct tests. It was deemed that there were no faults with the vehicles, leaving the cause of the crash to driver error.
The Chief Executive, Richard Bowker, defended the company's safety record on the Today programme , stating that drivers faced stringent tests both during the recruitment process and during their employment. He confirmed that National Express were fully co-operating with the police investigation, and insisted that it was extremely rare for National Express to have an accident like this, [5]
Two days after the crash, police were still waiting to question the coach driver. [6] The driver had sustained serious injuries, including an injured arm and cracked ribs, and was being treated at Northampton General Hospital. Police officers had to guard the driver in hospital until he was declared fit to answer police questions. The police confirmed that the slip road where the coach crashed needed to be re-surfaced due to damage caused by a diesel spill. [6] The coach driver was released from hospital on 10 September, [7] and was also released on police bail, to attend Milton Keynes police station on 1 October for further questioning. [7]
On 23 November 2007, police announced they had yet to decide whether to charge the driver. [8] The police explained that, due to delays in receiving forensic evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service was unable to make a fully informed decision on whether to bring charges. [8] The 35-year-old driver from West Bromwich, who had still not been named, was further bailed until 28 January 2008. [8]
On 28 January 2008, the National Express coach driver, now identified as Leslie Weinberg, 36, was officially charged with driving under the influence of excess alcohol, and a further charge of dangerous driving. [9] He was due to appear on 12 February 2008 at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court to answer the charges. [9] Weinburg's actions left eight people needing hospital treatment for their injuries. [9] Weinberg was subsequently dismissed by National Express as a result of the charge.[ citation needed ]
On 14 April 2008, Weinberg's actions were finally made public, via full evidence in court. [10] Appearing before Judge Christopher Tyrer at Aylesbury Crown Court, [10] Weinberg pleaded guilty to the two charges. [10] The Court was told that Weinberg had a drink-drive reading of 145 milligrams (0.0051 oz ) of alcohol in 100 millilitres (3.520 imp fl oz ; 3.381 US fl oz ) of blood – the UK legal limit is 80 milligrams (0.0028 oz) per 100 ml. [10] Six passengers suffered serious injuries as a direct result of Weinberg's actions; one man had an arm amputated. [10] The Judge warned Weinburg to expect a jail sentence, and stated: "This is serious. The circumstances are very grave". The Judge continued: "As a result of your intoxication, you completely mistook where you were. You mistook the exit of the motorway and a number of people were seriously injured". [10] The case was adjourned to seek medical reports on Wienburg, to re-appear during the week of 26 May 2008 for sentencing. [10] Judge Christopher Tyrer imposed an Interim Disqualification Order which banned Weinberg from driving, and told him: "This is way past the custody threshold, and you should make arrangements accordingly". [10]
Weinberg was sentenced on 24 June 2008. [11] On re-appearing at Aylesbury Crown Court, it became known that Weinberg had returned from holiday the day before, and chose to stay up alone all night drinking. [11] The court was told that the following day Weinburg drove a National Express coach on a regular service from Birmingham to Stansted Airport. [11] While travelling southbound on the M1, Weinberg overtook a lorry on the approach to a motorway junction. [11] He then cut back in front of the lorry, and claimed to have mistaken the service station entry slip road for that of the actual junction exit slip road. [11] As the coach entered the slip road, its tachograph showed that the coach was travelling at 57 miles per hour (92 km/h). [11] It then hit a kerb, and passengers reported the coach 'took off'. [11] It then rolled on to its side, sliding into a lamp-post and a tree. [11]
Leslie Weinberg was jailed for ten months and fined £500. He was disqualified from driving for four years for the guilty plea of driving with excess alcohol, and had a further concurrent two-year disqualification for the guilty plea of dangerous driving. [11]
The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the country was the Preston Bypass, which later became part of the M6.
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely complete by 1980, though a non-motorway section around Briton Ferry bridge remained until 1993. On the opening of the Second Severn Crossing in 1996, the M4 was rerouted over it.
The M40 motorway links London, Oxford, and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately 89 miles (143 km).
The M62 is a 107-mile-long (172 km) west–east trans-Pennine motorway in Northern England, connecting Liverpool and Hull via Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield; 7 miles (11 km) of the route is shared with the M60 orbital motorway around Manchester. The road is part of the unsigned Euroroutes E20 and E22.
The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley. It continues past Bromsgrove, Droitwich Spa, Worcester, Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Gloucester, Bristol, Portishead, Clevedon, Weston-super-Mare, Bridgwater, Taunton, terminating at junction 31 for Exeter. Congestion on the section south of the M4 is common during the summer holidays, on Friday afternoons and bank holidays.
The A50 is a major trunk road in England between Warrington and Leicester; historically it was also a major route from London to Leicester.
The Selby rail crash was a high-speed rail crash that occurred at Great Heck near Selby, North Yorkshire, England, on the morning of 28 February 2001. An InterCity 225 passenger train operated by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) travelling from Newcastle to London collided with a Land Rover Defender which had crashed down a motorway embankment onto the railway line. It was consequently derailed into the path of an oncoming freight train, colliding at an estimated closing speed of 142 mph (229 km/h). Ten people were killed, including the drivers of both trains, and 82 were seriously injured. It remains the worst rail disaster of the 21st century in the United Kingdom.
easyBus is a company offering shuttle services between airports and city centers, part of the EasyGroup. It was founded by entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou in 2003. It initially also offered intercity services within the UK in addition to city to airport low-cost bus transfers.
Newport Pagnell Services is a motorway service station between junctions 14 and 15 of the M1 motorway near Newport Pagnell in the City of Milton Keynes, north Buckinghamshire, England. It is owned and operated by Welcome Break.
Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also known as services or service stations, are rest areas where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vast majority of motorway services in the UK are owned by one of three companies: Moto, Welcome Break and Roadchef. Smaller operators include Extra, Westmorland and EG Group.
The Milton Keynes Coachway is a Coachway interchange close to junction 14 of the M1 motorway on the eastern edge of Milton Keynes, north Buckinghamshire, England. It supports National Express intercity coach services to cities, towns and airports on the M1, and on into Scotland, to Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton Airports, as well as Stagecoach East's route X5 between Oxford and Bedford, and interchange between these services. There are also local bus services and nearby, a park and ride site. It is the second busiest coach station in the United Kingdom. Dating from 1989, it was the first of the UK's Coachway interchanges.
A smart motorway, also known in Scotland as an intelligent transport system, is a section of motorway in the United Kingdom that employs active traffic management (ATM) techniques to increase capacity through the use of MIDAS technology including variable speed limits and occasionally hard shoulder running and ramp metering at busy times. They were developed at the turn of the 21st century as a cost-effective alternative to traditional carriageway widening, with intended benefits ranging from more reliable journey times to lower vehicle emissions. However, despite the risk of a collision occurring between two moving vehicles being found to be decreased, there has been an acknowledged rise in the incidence of collisions involving vehicles where at least one was stationary in the first few years following the widespread removal of the hard shoulder on the country's busiest sections of motorway. Smart motorways garnered intense criticism from politicians, police representatives and motoring organisations, particularly from 2020 onwards, after a surge in near miss incidents and dozens of fatalities were revealed, and as of April 2023, no new smart motorways will be built.
Events from 2007 in England
On 4 November 2011, a multiple-vehicle collision occurred on the M5 motorway near Taunton, Somerset, in South West England. The crash involved dozens of cars and articulated lorries, and a large fireball ensued.
On 10 March 1997 a multiple-vehicle collision occurred on the M42 motorway near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, in central England. Three people were killed and more than 60 others were injured in the crash, which happened in dense fog during the early morning rush hour.
The Sierre coach crash occurred on 13 March 2012 near Sierre, Switzerland, when a coach carrying school teachers and pupils crashed into a wall in the Sierre Tunnel. Of the 52 people on board, 28 were killed in the crash, including both drivers, all four teachers, and 22 of the 46 children. The other 24 pupils, all aged between 10 and 12, were injured, including three who were hospitalised with severe brain and chest injuries.
On 3 January 2007, a National Express Coaches Neoplan Skyliner N122/3L coach was operating on route 592 and was heading towards Aberdeen. It left Victoria Coach Station at 22:30 (GMT), carrying 65 passengers, and was due to arrive at Aberdeen Coach Park at 10:30 (GMT) on 4 January 2007. The coach was due to call en route at Heathrow Airport, Carlisle, Hamilton, Glasgow and Dundee.
At around 17:00 BST on 11 April 2004, a double-decker bus was involved in a collision with a car and a number of pedestrians outside the Fantasy Island amusement park on Sea Lane in Ingoldmells, Lincolnshire. The collision killed five pedestrians and injured six more.
The 2019 Totnes bus crash was a single-vehicle collision on the A385 road at Berry Pomeroy, Devon, England on 5 October 2019. More than 50 people – including the driver – were injured when a double-decker bus overturned at high speed between Totnes and Paignton. Eight passengers suffered injuries described as "serious" out of 37 requiring hospitalisation; though there were no fatalities.
On 5 September 2013, a huge pile-up occurred on the southbound carriageway of the Sheppey Crossing, which at the time was a covered in heavy fog. In total, more than 130 vehicles were involved in a series of shunts and 35 people needed hospital treatment, with eight people sustaining serious injuries and 60 others sustaining minor injuries.