Incidents/Events
On 9 July 2007, a 66-year-old woman from the Bentley area of Walsall died, and several others were injured, when an Arriva Midlands service 360 to Aldridge went the wrong way up the bus stations one way system, crashing into several pedestrians and other vehicles (which should not have been in the bus station area) before finally being stopped by a National Express West Midlands 51 service double decker to Birmingham. The bus was deliberately driven into the Arriva bus by the female driver to stop its progress. The 62-year-old driver, named as John Connolly, a 62-year-old from Burntwood, was charged with causing death by dangerous driving. In February 2009, after a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court, lasting one week, Mr Connolly was cleared of the charge, an outcome that was welcomed by the police.
On 20 February 2008, an Arriva Midlands service crashed into the back of a Thandi Bus on service 346 causing it to shunt forward. This caused two elderly women to be crushed by the bus, one underneath, the other against the glass pane of a shelter. Both were seriously injured. The Arriva driver was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and was released on bail. In July 2008 the driver, Peter Love, appeared in court charged with driving without due care and attention, where he was banned from driving for six months. It was also revealed Arriva Midlands had sacked him.
Both incidents caused the bus station to be shut for several hours, which caused travel disruption in the town centre.
A minor incident occurred on 7 June 2010, this time between a National Express West Midlands bus and a Diamond Bus vehicle both on the 301 service to Mossley. Nobody was seriously injured, and no damage was caused to the station, yet the incident once again prompted calls for the station to be demolished or altered, before another serious incident happened.
On 28 February 2011, a suspect package found outside the neighbouring job centre caused the bus station to be evacuated and closed from 1pm through until 7.30pm after the Bomb Disposal Squad had declared the package safe. This caused disruption to the bus station, and the wider town centre.
Exactly one week later on 7 March 2011, a collison occurred on the approach to the station, involving two National Express West Midlands buses and two cars, neither of which should have been in the vicinity. Although officially on the highway and despite there being no injuries, this again prompted calls for better policing of the interchange or a change of layout.
Read more about this topic: Walsall St Pauls Bus Station
Famous quotes containing the words incidents and/or events:
“An element of exaggeration clings to the popular judgment: great vices are made greater, great virtues greater also; interesting incidents are made more interesting, softer legends more soft.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)
“There is much to be said in favour of modern journalism. By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance of the community. By carefully chronicling the current events of contemporary life, it shows us of what very little importance such events really are. By invariably discussing the unnecessary, it makes us understand what things are requisite for culture, and what are not.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)