Mearns parents whose children were lucky to escape a school bus crash alive have questioned whether its route over one of the highest and most challenging roads in the area should be scrapped.
A Stagecoach double-decker bus toppled into a field at the top of the Garvock Hill while taking 34 Mearns Academy pupils home on Friday.
After a meeting of St Cyrus parents called to air ongoing concerns, Darran Smith said, “There are still a lot of concerns. The reputation of Stagecoach and the transport unit of Aberdeenshire Council with the St Cyrus parents will require quite a bit of work to be rebuilt.”
While agreement had been reached that a double-decker bus would no longer be used on the B1920 Garvock road and that was a huge step forward, he said there remained concern about the rate at which the weather could change at the top of the 900ft hill.
The accident happened shortly after a storm quickly blew up on Friday afternoon with gale-force winds, torrential rain and thick mist.
Mr Smith added, “We need assurance on how severe weather warnings are going to work.
“The process of assessing the safety of the route clearly didn’t work on Friday, because we had been told in bad weather the double-decker would not operate, but would be replaced by two single-decker buses instead.
“If there is poor weather, we need to know what response is planned and how the process of ensuring safe transport will work.”
The best solution, it was proposed, was that an alternative route to the Garvock Hill for pupils attending Mearns Academy from the coast should be explored.
Mr Smith added, “Stagecoach is a new operator and doesn’t have the track record, experience and history on this road.’Dangers'”When it comes to winter time we need to know how they intend to deal with this road. Even with a single-decker bus, there are dangers on that road.”
He said there was also concern about the lack of supervision on the bus.
When local operator Nicoll of Laurencekirk had the school contract, he said, they had a strict safety regime, and would not depart until certain all pupils had fitted seatbelts and shown passes. Parents no longer had the confidence that was the case.
He said parents were also keen to be kept informed on the outcome of the police’s accident investigation.
Aberdeenshire provost and Mearns councillor Bill Howatson attended the meeting and said parents needed assurance that lessons would be learned.
He said, “Clearly deep anxieties remain for the parents, and it is critical that the council and Stagecoach take on board all their concerns.
“The important thing is that the parents really need to be involved in the information feedback process in terms of the police investigation and the council response.”
On the safety of the Garvock Hill as a school route, he added, “Clearly the question is whether it’s the best for getting children safely from St Cyrus to Mearns Academy. In the wake of the accident other routes will be assessed.”Stagecoach statementStagecoach last night issued a statement in connection with a meeting between the firm and the council.
A spokesman for the firm said, “Representatives from Stagecoach and Aberdeenshire Council had a positive meeting today as part of the joint review we are undertaking into last week’s accident.
“We have agreed with the council that this particular contract will now be fulfilled on a permanent basis by single-decker vehicles.
“It is important to stress that this decision does not reflect any outcome of the ongoing investigation into the incident.
“None of the agencies investigating the incident are in a position to draw any firm conclusions at this stage as to its cause, and these inquiries are not yet fully completed.
“We operate 7000 buses across the UK and the safety of all our customers, particularly younger passengers, remains our absolute priority.
“Around two million passengers travel on our services every day, and they can do so with confidence. We never put any vehicle on the road unless we believe it is safe to do so and all of the vehicle types in our fleet can be operated safely in a range of conditions.
“Nevertheless, we are committed to understanding why this particular accident occurred and establishing as a matter of urgency whether any lessons need to be learned.”