Peshwari Naan
Peshwari Naan shows that Salsabil is not on her own. National Express does not operate as well as the company wants the public to believe. In this blog Salsabil republishes material that she has found on the internet to demonstrate that she is not the only one who knows just how badly National Express operates it's coach services in the UK.Thursday, October 01, 2009
lost soul writes on 29th September 2009...
...I spent about 12 hours on a coach in the past 24hours. I left Belfast at about 5ish yesterday and got into Leciester at about 7ish this morning. It was a long journey, made worse by the fact that the bloke in the seat in front of me was pissed and flirting with the 17yo beside him. Fun times. Not...
Oxford Mail reports on 18th September 2009...
Barriers 'not safe enough', say dead OAP's family
THE family of a pensioner crushed by several buses after falling through roadwork barriers said safety measures around the site were not good enough.
Fred Carter, 74, of Vicarage Road, Oxford, was found dead in February at the junction of Speedwell Street and St Aldates in Oxford, where work was being carried out on the road.
Witnesses yesterday told an inquest at Oxford Coroners’ Court they saw two buses drive over Mr Carter’s head as he lay on the ground.
Between 30 and 40 vehicles passed father-of-three Mr Carter, but the hearing could not determine how many drove over him.
Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death and said there was no indication of a problem with the roadworks.
But after the hearing, Mr Carter’s son Andrew, 56, said he believed Oxfordshire County Council was at fault for not installing safe roadwork barriers.
He said: “The bus drivers knew they were cutting the corner and a ramp was even put by the kerb to make it easier for the drivers’ wheels to cut the corner.
“Because of the tightness of the corner extra precautions should have been put in place to make it safe for pedestrians.
“It took the death of my father to have the extra barriers put in. This is a health and safety issue.”
After Mr Carter’s death, the three-foot high plastic barriers were moved back and replaced with secured higher metal fences, his son told the inquest.
A statement by taxi driver Andrew Lacey, which was read to the inquest, described driving behind an Oxford Bus Company bus and seeing a “sack” lying half on the road and half on the pavement.
He added: “I remember thinking: ‘that’s not a sack it’s a body and the bus is going to run over the head’.
“There was nothing I could do and its back wheel went over where the head should be.”
Chef Paddy Gervers described finding Mr Carter on the ground then watching a National Express coach driving over his head.
He said: “I looked at his face and there was a large pool of blood coming from it. As the bus drove off a man said ‘he’s dead’.”
Pc Terry Anderson, a collision investigator, said studies showed three-quarters of buses which turned the corner had to mount the kerb because it was too tight.
Mr Carter had been drinking in the hours before his death at The Crown, in High Street, and pathologist Dr Fegan Earle said he was the equivalent of almost four times the legal limit to drive when he died.
None of the bus companies were asked to provide evidence, but an Oxford Bus Company representative attended the hearing.
Passing his verdict, Mr Gardiner added Mr Carter either had fallen through the barriers or tried to remove them.
A county council spokesman said: “This was a tragic accident.
“Neither the police or the coroner has given any indication that there was any problem with council roadworks as regards this accident.
“Had there been a problem, they would have been duty bound to highlight it.”
South Wales Echo reports on 12th September 2009...
Family call for bright colours at crash victim’s funeral
MOURNERS are being asked to wear bright colours to the funeral of a young mum who died in a crash at Gatwick Airport.
Melanie Wisden, 34, was killed when her black Ford Ka collided with a National Express coach on Friday, September 4, as she left the airport’s North Terminal.
The service for the “happy, bubbly, smiley person” who “would make anyone smile”, of Dunraven Street, Leckwith, Cardiff, is due to take place next Friday at the Church of the Resurrection, Ely, Cardiff, from 1.15pm, followed by a cremation at Thornhill Crematorium.
Heartbroken mum Valerie, 56, dad Jeff, 60, a driver at RAF St Athan, and sisters sister Maxine, 32, Melissa, 31, and Jessica, 17, and brother Mark, 37, have requested those attending wear Melanie’s favourite colours, which were red, yellow, white and black, to reflect her bright personality.
Melanie had taken a day off from her job at the city centre branch of Starbucks in Queen Street, Cardiff, to take her newlywed friend Samantha Macatangay to the airport from her Valleys home so she could begin her honeymoon in Tenerife.
...I spent about 12 hours on a coach in the past 24hours. I left Belfast at about 5ish yesterday and got into Leciester at about 7ish this morning. It was a long journey, made worse by the fact that the bloke in the seat in front of me was pissed and flirting with the 17yo beside him. Fun times. Not...
Oxford Mail reports on 18th September 2009...
Barriers 'not safe enough', say dead OAP's family
THE family of a pensioner crushed by several buses after falling through roadwork barriers said safety measures around the site were not good enough.
Fred Carter, 74, of Vicarage Road, Oxford, was found dead in February at the junction of Speedwell Street and St Aldates in Oxford, where work was being carried out on the road.
Witnesses yesterday told an inquest at Oxford Coroners’ Court they saw two buses drive over Mr Carter’s head as he lay on the ground.
Between 30 and 40 vehicles passed father-of-three Mr Carter, but the hearing could not determine how many drove over him.
Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded a verdict of accidental death and said there was no indication of a problem with the roadworks.
But after the hearing, Mr Carter’s son Andrew, 56, said he believed Oxfordshire County Council was at fault for not installing safe roadwork barriers.
He said: “The bus drivers knew they were cutting the corner and a ramp was even put by the kerb to make it easier for the drivers’ wheels to cut the corner.
“Because of the tightness of the corner extra precautions should have been put in place to make it safe for pedestrians.
“It took the death of my father to have the extra barriers put in. This is a health and safety issue.”
After Mr Carter’s death, the three-foot high plastic barriers were moved back and replaced with secured higher metal fences, his son told the inquest.
A statement by taxi driver Andrew Lacey, which was read to the inquest, described driving behind an Oxford Bus Company bus and seeing a “sack” lying half on the road and half on the pavement.
He added: “I remember thinking: ‘that’s not a sack it’s a body and the bus is going to run over the head’.
“There was nothing I could do and its back wheel went over where the head should be.”
Chef Paddy Gervers described finding Mr Carter on the ground then watching a National Express coach driving over his head.
He said: “I looked at his face and there was a large pool of blood coming from it. As the bus drove off a man said ‘he’s dead’.”
Pc Terry Anderson, a collision investigator, said studies showed three-quarters of buses which turned the corner had to mount the kerb because it was too tight.
Mr Carter had been drinking in the hours before his death at The Crown, in High Street, and pathologist Dr Fegan Earle said he was the equivalent of almost four times the legal limit to drive when he died.
None of the bus companies were asked to provide evidence, but an Oxford Bus Company representative attended the hearing.
Passing his verdict, Mr Gardiner added Mr Carter either had fallen through the barriers or tried to remove them.
A county council spokesman said: “This was a tragic accident.
“Neither the police or the coroner has given any indication that there was any problem with council roadworks as regards this accident.
“Had there been a problem, they would have been duty bound to highlight it.”
South Wales Echo reports on 12th September 2009...
Family call for bright colours at crash victim’s funeral
MOURNERS are being asked to wear bright colours to the funeral of a young mum who died in a crash at Gatwick Airport.
Melanie Wisden, 34, was killed when her black Ford Ka collided with a National Express coach on Friday, September 4, as she left the airport’s North Terminal.
The service for the “happy, bubbly, smiley person” who “would make anyone smile”, of Dunraven Street, Leckwith, Cardiff, is due to take place next Friday at the Church of the Resurrection, Ely, Cardiff, from 1.15pm, followed by a cremation at Thornhill Crematorium.
Heartbroken mum Valerie, 56, dad Jeff, 60, a driver at RAF St Athan, and sisters sister Maxine, 32, Melissa, 31, and Jessica, 17, and brother Mark, 37, have requested those attending wear Melanie’s favourite colours, which were red, yellow, white and black, to reflect her bright personality.
Melanie had taken a day off from her job at the city centre branch of Starbucks in Queen Street, Cardiff, to take her newlywed friend Samantha Macatangay to the airport from her Valleys home so she could begin her honeymoon in Tenerife.
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