Sorry.. I forgot I was driving a double decker
Driver thought he was at wheel of single decker
A BuS driver ploughed into a low bridge because he forgot he was at the wheel of a double decker, a court heard yesterday.
Keith Ryves, 60, told a court: “I thought I was driving a single decker.
“Unfortunately, it was a double decker.
“It was a momentary lapse in concentration. I didn’t normally drive double deckers.
“I had been furloughed due to the coronavirus situation.
“When I went back to work, single deckers were being replaced by double deckers due to passenger capacity.”
One passenger was hurt in the collision but luckily no one was sitting upstairs.
Ryves was fined £490 when he admitted driving carelessly in Wishaw, Lanarkshire, on August 17 last year.
Sheriff James Spy put eight penalty points on his licence but
I thought I was driving a single decker. It wasn’t
ON REASON FOR CRASHING INTO BRIDGE
cleared him of the more serious charge of dangerous driving.
The First Bus double decker hit a railway bridge as Ryves was driving from Glasgow to Overtown, Lanarkshire, and one female passenger suffered a bloodied nose. Giving evidence, at Hamilton Sheriff Court, Ryves admitted there was a clear height restriction notice on the bridge but said a single decker bus would pass safely under it. Prosecutor Chloe O’Hara said: “It’s unacceptable to simply forget the size of your bus, thereby putting passengers in danger.”
But Sheriff Spy said he wasn’t satisfied that the driving fell into the dangerous category.
Solicitor Philip Cohen said Ryves, of Hareshaw, Motherwell, had been driving buses without incident for 29 years. He was suspended by the Traffic Commissioner after the crash.
Mr Cohen added: “The collision was a bad experience for him to the extent that he doesn’t intend to resume his driving career.”