Bus check drags out journey

A group of school students on their way home to Wellington from a rowing regatta were stuck for more almost two hours after their bus drivers were questioned by authorities.

The students – from Wellington College, Wellington Girls’ College, Onslow College and Samuel Marsden College – were returning from a regatta in Cambridge when their buses were stopped in O¯ taki, north of Wellington, shortly after midnight yesterday. The three buses were pulled over after police and a New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) representative questioned the drivers about over-working.

They also deemed one of the buses to be non-compliant, although operator NCS – run by Boss Transport – said it had yet to be told what the breach was.

Under the Land Transport Rule, bus drivers cannot work shifts of more than 14 consecutive hours, including breaks and work outside of driving.

Boss Transport owner Malcolm Little said police told two of the drivers they were in danger of exceeding that limit if they continued on to Wellington, so the company decided to replace them.

It also sent a different bus to replace the one deemed to be noncompliant. But Little said the drivers would have been well within the legal limit if they had not been stopped for so long in O¯ taki.

Even allowing for the delay, they would still probably have made it to Wellington in time but the company did not want to take any risks, he said. ‘‘[Police] made a mistake. They haven’t added up the hours correctly.’’

Wellington Girls’ College Rowing Club head Jo Hodgkinson said the two-hour stop left the students ‘‘rather shattered’’ when they eventually reached Wellington about 3am yesterday, with their day having started about 5am on Sunday.

Wellington College Rowing Club president Sophie Haslem said her son, who attends the school, arrived home at 3.30am.

She had been told by some parents who were on the trip that police and the agency had threatened to ‘‘pink-sticker’’ one of the buses because of a problem with its compliance certificate.

The bus was eventually deemed ‘‘road-worthy’’ but by then it was too late for the driver to continue, she said.

In December, NZTA issued a cease-to-operate order to Boss Transport following several alleged infractions.

The company applied for an injunction and the High Court ruled it could continue to operate until February, when it will appeal NZTA’s decision.

Bus drivers are not allowed to work shifts of more than 14 consecutive hours.