Data shows 7,000 aged over 70 can drive buses

MORE THAN 7,000 people aged 70 and over hold licences which allow them to drive buses, data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) shows.

Figures from July indicates that 6,856 men in the age bracket held licences allowing them to drive Category D vehicles, including buses.

A further 194 women had the same licence, the statistics show.

On Tuesday, a bus company was fined more than £2m over a fatal crash caused by a 77-year-old driver who made a “fundamentally and tragically fatal error” by mistakenly hitting the accelerator.

Kailash Chander crashed the bus into Sainsbury’s in Coventry city centre at 20mph on October 3 2015, leading to the deaths of seven-year-old passenger Rowan Fitzgerald, who was sitting on the top deck of Chander’s vehicle, and 76-year-old pedestrian Dora Hancox. Midland Red (South) pleaded guilty to two offences contrary to the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £2.3m.

Speaking after the hearing, managing director Phil Medlicott said the case brought about questions on age discrimination laws.

He said: “I am a former bus driver myself and I believe this case also has important lessons for the wider bus industry, as well as for those responsible for drafting and applying employment law.

“In particular, we support a review of how current age discrimination law impacts specific roles with key safety considerations.”

Discussing the figures, the DVLA said its database changes “constantly” and is only a “snapshot of the state of the record at a particular time”.

Not all those who hold licences will be driving, the agency added. Chander, 80, was given a two-year supervision order after he was ruled mentally unfit to stand trial due to dementia.