Town hall call to ban school bus tyres over 10 years old
TOWN hall bosses are to call for a ban on school buses in Rochdale using tyres more than 10-years-old.
They’re also going to push for similar rules to be applied to council vehicles.
The call comes in a motion set to be put forward by deputy council leader Sara Rowbotham at a meeting on Wednesday.
In it she will urge the council to back the Tyred campaign, launched following a fatal bus crash in the Isle of Wight in 2012.
Michael Molloy, 18, Kerry Ogden, 23, and the coach driver, Colin Daulby, 63, died and several others were left with life-changing injuries when a coach bound for the Bestival festival crashed into a tree.
An inquest found that a 19-year-old front nearside tyre was responsible for the crash.
The motion states: “On Monday 10 September 2012 a coach bound for Liverpool carrying 53 people from the Bestival music festival on the Isle of Wight, left the road and crashed into a tree instantly killing Michael Molloy (18), Kerry Ogden (23) and the coach driver, Colin Daulby (63), and left others with life-changing injuries.
“The inquest into the crash found that the front nearside tyre which was actually older than the coach itself, at 19 years, was responsible for the crash. In 2014, Liverpool City Council unanimously agreed on a motion in support of Michael’s mother Frances calling for a change in the law requiring a ban on tyres older than six years on commercial vehicles. Despite the widespread public and political support for this campaign, no change in the law has been made, shamefully leaving others at risk from faulty and dangerous tyres.
“Council notes that Frances Molloy has launched “Tyred” – the official campaign to pressure Government – to change the law to ban the use of tyres older than ten years on commercial vehicles.
“Council wholeheartedly supports “Tyred” and instructs the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition to call together crossparty support for a change in the law.
“Council further resolves to support the “Tyred” campaign until such a change in the law is achieved and to draw the attention of the Local Government Association, especially its Environment and Transport Board, to this Council’s view that the concerns should be fully addressed.
“Finally, Council asks the Chief Executive to ●●The aftermath of the 2012 bus crash on the Isle of Wight which left three people dead and others with life-changing injuries write to all schools in the Borough asking them to require coach and bus operators they use for school trips etc to adhere to the provisions set out in the Tyred campaign. Council should also ask officers to look at our own procurement procedures with a view to inserting an appropriate clause in any contracts with commercial operators and to also ensure that this standard applies to our own vehicle fleet.”