No way lights were out

Bus crash driver rejects police accusation

A BUS driver who crashed a vehicle full of tourists into a creek at a popular Port Douglas tourist venue has denied responsibility.

Ross Charles Stephens, aged in his 60s, was behind the wheel of the Sun Palm coach with 27 people on board, travelling to the Flames Of The Forest attraction at Mowbray in May 2012, when it slipped off a causeway and crashed onto its side in a creek.

Police have alleged Mr Stephens had switched off the bus’s headlights prior to crossing the causeway and was navigating by holding a torch out the window.

But during a hearing in the Mossman Magistrates Court yesterday Mr Stephens said the headlights were on.

He has not entered a plea for dangerous driving.

Several of the passengers suffered injuries in the crash and they were forced to climb through emergency hatches in the bus roof to escape.

Mr Stephens, who was representing himself, told the court he rarely drove the route and was worried about the road before feeling the bus begin to slide.

“No one drives a bus full of 31 people when it’s wet without the headlights on. I’m not crazy,” he said.

“I didn’t tell them we might possibly die because you can’t say that.”

He told the court he was not able to switch off the bus engine when it landed in the water and he was concerned “the noise would attract crocodiles”.

He also claimed police had enticed witnesses to conspire against him and lie in their evidence.

One of eight passengers on the bus who gave evidence yesterday said she had held concerns about the vehicle when she got on board.

“It felt unroadworthy,” Victorian woman Kerry Lukey said.

She said her friend yelled out “turn the f---ing lights on” to the driver during the trip.

“It was pitch dark, all the lights were off. We hit a rock and then another one,” she said.

Retired police mechanic Bradley Dieckmann told the court he had inspected the vehicle and it was mechanically sound.

The magistrate is due to hand down a verdict in January.