Death coach drivers rested in wrong place
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ALTHOUGH the driver and co-driver of a 4 coach that crashed down an M6 embankment in July, killing one woman and injuring several others, had had more than 10 hours' rest in 24 as demanded by the law—they still broke the law because they rested IN the coach, magistrates were told at Newcastle, Staffs, last week.
George Stead, 30, the coach driver, of Zetland Street, Southport, Lanes, and Ronald Thomas Etchells, 35, co-driver, of Haigh Avenue, Southport, were both fined £1 after pleading guilty to driving excessive hours.
Their employer, Southport and Birkdale Motor and Carriage Co. Ltd,, of Southport, was fined £10 On each charge of permitting Etchells and Stead to drive excessive hours.
The coach was carrying a party of elderly people returning from a Continental holiday. Stead was driving when the crash occurred.
Mr. F. G. Botham, defending, said that both men were unaware of the provision of the Act. They had taken it in turns to rest. Stead had denied falling asleep, but could not say how the coach came to leave the road. He had been fined £40 and disqualified from driving for two years after being convicted of causing death by dangerous driving.