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Newton-le-Willows junction (Google Maps)Dangerous bus driver banned from driving for a year after hitting 13-year-old cyclist "into the road" before fleeing the scene
A Merseyside bus driver has been sentenced after admitting dangerous driving and failure to stop, the charges in relation to a collision at a junction which saw a teenage cyclist fortunate to avoid injury when the professional driver hit the cyclist's rear wheel with his double-decker bus and "the bike was pushed into the road".
William Brennan, the driver of the vehicle, did not stop at the scene of the collision but was tracked down by police and later admitted dangerous driving, Warrington Worldwide reported from Liverpool Magistrates' Court.
On Monday, the 75-year-old was sentenced to a 12-month community order which will see him undertake 100 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation days. He has also been banned from driving for a year and was ordered to pay costs of £199.
> Dangerous driver who killed cyclist in "horrific incident" jailed for four years
Brennan's defence claimed the incident was "a really momentary lapse of reason" and pointed out that he is still employed full-time by MD Bus and Coach Ltd. — whose owner was also in court to support and offer positive testimonial.
The collision occurred at the the junction of Acorn Street and Wargrave Road, in Newton-le-Willows, Brennan approaching the junction at 3.30pm on April 18.
Prosecuting, Vincent Yip, said Brennan had made contact with the 13-year-old victim's rear wheel "and the bike was pushed into the road".
"Fortunately he was not injured," he added. "The vehicles came to a stop and the cyclist was able to get to safety. The matter was reported to the police and they carried out investigations and eventually found out it was Mr Brennan. He was interviewed on September 17."
Brennan's defence previously argued the charge of dangerous driving should be downgraded to the lesser charge of careless driving, a claim that was rejected and the driver later pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, failing to stop and failing to report the incident.
"He is an industrious man, even when he retired he gained his bus licence and worked for the company for ten years," Brennan's defence told the court. The driver's disqualification has been backdated to November 4, when his interim disqualification began during the court process, meaning he has 11 more months to serve before he can take an extended re-test if he wishes to drive again.
Dan is the road.cc news editor and joined in 2020 having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for The Non-League Paper. Dan has been at road.cc for four years and mainly writes news and tech articles as well as the occasional feature. He has hopefully kept you entertained on the live blog too.
Never fast enough to take things on the bike too seriously, when he's not working you'll find him exploring the south of England by two wheels at a leisurely weekend pace, or enjoying his favourite Scottish roads when visiting family. Sometimes he'll even load up the bags and ride up the whole way, he's a bit strange like that.
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14 comments
It's always a momentary lapse.
Except it isn't. It's normal driving behaviour.
Only this time it was found out and punished.
Sometimes it's 'only a momentary loss of concentration' (© Lancashire Constabulary Dodging Department)
Not stopping should be an insta-ban. What's the likelihood that they were drunk at the time and knew that if they stopped they'd be breathalysed? There's no good reason why a driver wouldn't stop.
If I had my way, not stopping would be a lifetime driving ban.
Not stopping should be an insta-ban
Agreed. That would instantly remove the 'I thought it was just a sack of potatoes' and 'I had to have a few drinks to calm my nerves' dodges. They might still get away with it if it was just a sack of potatoes, although that might convince them to try looking at the road ahead rather than the console, phone etc
I think the Merseyside Police need lots of credit for this. They followed it up, found the driver, didn't accept careless and succeeded with dangerous driving. In most other areas carless would have been accepted and in Lancashire, where Newton Le Willows was before Merseyside, who knows what would have happened. Oh wait a minute, I can think of one person who would know.
As for "momentary lapse of reason" as mitigation. When is it going to get through to people that you can't afford to have a momentary lapse of anything when in charge of a vehicle.
Good that the kid is OK. I hope it doesn't put him off cycling.
In most other areas carless would have been accepted
I don't think any areas accept that!
This guy needs to give up driving - if you aren't able to yield to anything on the road and operate a vehicle with due care and attention, you may as well forget it!
At least the police did something here.
When I recently reported the Stagecoach bus driver who nearly knocked my 13 y.o. off, with video footage, they declined to take any action as the licence plate wasn't visible.
Despite the bus service number being clearly visible, AND my providing confirmation of the VRM provided directly from Stagecoach.
And then people wonder why more kids don't cycle.
Nothing surprising about the police refusing to act against offending bus drivers! Doesn't matter how good the video, or how clear the registration, or how bad the offence, they're just too busy to bother. If you are KSI'd, they move straight onto 'insufficient evidence' because you won't be there to force the evidence upon them.
Edit: UpRide is through already, although (and this seems to be a lottery, some of them are near the original quality) it's a bit 'grainy'
I'm sure this driver of Blackpool Boiler Installations Renault Trafic CA11 ABD isn't 75, but still managed a terrifying close pass this morning accompanied by obviously illegal crossing of double unbroken white lines, while coming much closer to me than to the oncoming larger white van. It's not the age, it's the malevolence of the driver encouraged by the complete indifference of the local police (even though the Liverpool police actually did something about the offence). Lancashire Constabulary will ignore today's offence, just as they ignored this Stagecoach offence and all the others
https://upride.cc/incident/sk19evw_stagecoach42_closepass/
Bastards!
https://upride.cc/incident/ca11abd_blackpoolboilers_closepass/
= Brennan's defence said, "Look - it's never happened before (he's never been caught out before) and it's not like anyone died or anything…"
I would also hope that DVSA and HSE are taking an interest in MD Coach & Bus Ltd. A driver not stopping, not reporting, and ultimately receiving a conviction, but STILL supported/ employed by the business would suggest a poor attitude overall to safety and compliance.
How the feck can it be legal to drive a large PSV at 75 years old?
Easy if you pass the yearly medical and eyesight check. Personally, I would rather concentrate on removing those of any age who shouldn't be driving because they know they have medical conditions that disqualify them from holding a licence or can't meet the necessary eyesight requirements than have some arbitrary age limit.