School buses collide between Ingleby Barwick and Yarm

12:23pm Thursday 19th April 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Chris Webber, Reporter (Stockton/Hartlepool)

TWO school coaches carrying 45 children were involved in a collision this morning.

None of the children were seriously hurt.

However, one 16-year-old girl had a minor head injury and shock and was taken to hospital by ambulance as a precaution.

Other children, all from the Ingleby Barwick area heading to Conyers School, Yarm, were also taken by parents for checks. Some had neck pain and minor bumps and many were in shock.

The incident occurred at about 8.37am on Leven Bank, Yarm when one bus collided with the rear of another. All of the children were aged between 11 and 18.

Executive headteacher, John Morgan, was quickly at the scene and said staff had managed to contact all but one child's parents by mid-morning.

He explained that a replacement bus took the children into the nearby school where they were all checked over.

He said: "The scene was very calm, the police were quickly at the site and blocked off the road.

"The switchboard was jammed with parents and I can understand that. When I got the call it was a worry and I was the same."

Mr Morgan said a number of parents had come to the school. He added that it appeared a car had stopped to turn right which had caused the first coach to stop.

Stockton South Conservative MP James Wharton said the accident showed there was safety issue and a new school should be built in Ingleby Barwick.

He said: “It is lucky there were no serious injuries on this occasion and I’m pleased there were no serious injuries, but the incident underlines the need to stop sending so many children down Leven Bank every day. "It is a narrow and congested road with the new houses by the river adding to the risks.

"This makes the case for Ingleby Barwick’s new free school all the stronger. Campaigners have raised concerns about Leven Bank time and time again and part of the solution must be educating children closer to home.

"The road is just about coping now but unless we address the future needs of Ingleby Barwick’s growing numbers of school age children it could become a real problem.”

There were serious traffic queues through on the heavily congested road while police dealt with the collision.

Were you involved? Email newsdesk@nne.co.uk or call Chris Webber on 01325-505065

Comments(14)

Stumpy2 says...
2:42pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Well my son was on one of those buses, and we certainly didn't get a phone call from the school. That bus company has a very bad reputation - I've spoken to parents of children who have since grown up and left Conyers, and they all say the same thing. The bus "service" was atrocious. Regularly late - leaving kids on the side of main roads in all weathers; making them get out and walk up Leven Bank in the snow and ice in winter; drivers having to ask the kids for directions. It is completely bonkers that so many kids have to be shipped off the estate to various schools - we should have our own secondary school.

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BLOBBY35 says...
3:48pm Thu 19 Apr 12

will it be part of the proctors group of busses ?? as my children go on them to school and it is forever breaking down

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Stumpy2 says...
3:55pm Thu 19 Apr 12

His bus is supposed to be a Compass Royston one, but according to the Gazette there were three there: a Compass Royston, one with Coach 2 Com branding and one of M & D Travel.

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Middlesbrough54 says...
6:42pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Children in Ingleby Barwick on the whole are a great set of kids but parents need to be aware that Children when travelling to and from school away from their parents do at times misbehave. Could the driver of the bus accident this morning have been watching the children in his mirror fighting, messing around or damaging the vehicle? As for vehicles breaking down I have driven the coaches to Conyers for many years and the reason vehicles breakdown or don’t operate on time in many cases is due to children constantly vandalising these vehicles. If the residents of Ingleby Barwick put as much time in trying to speak with these coach companies and the council to address problems as they do into a new school they may end up with a better service. Sincerely Middlesbrough54

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BLOBBY35 says...
7:54pm Thu 19 Apr 12

compass royston and coach 2 com are owned by proctors my childrens bus has had a wheel come loose brakes faulty fan belt fall off and even tonight it had a air leak on the front brake !

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Stumpy2 says...
8:02pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Several children on the bus report seeing the driver looking down at his feet and "pumping" the pedals with no result. I certainly don't think a mechanical failure was the result of the kids on the bus mucking about or vandalising the bus. They'd have to have been bloody quick if it was! If "kids" are getting into their depot at night to loosen wheels, rip fan belts off, etc, then there is obviously something horribly wrong with their security. Regardless of all that - my 11 yr old isn't at fault for any of that, and I have a hard time thinking ANY of the kids on that bus would have had anything to do with it. As for talking to the bus companies and council .. I've spoken to both in the past. I know plenty of others who have done the same. Look at the result.

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BLOBBY35 says...
8:14pm Thu 19 Apr 12

the bus driver even tells me whats wrong with it if he is late or a different bus , as for brakes this bus was on a public run to ripon one day when he had to stand up to get more pressure to brake !! proctors have the council over a barrel as they know there is no other company to do what they do

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mum of two says...
8:24pm Thu 19 Apr 12

my daughter goes to conyers school, she used to get the bus, but after it being late, not arriving, drivers smoking etc a few of us mums now have a car pool going - cheaper too as the bus costs £90 a term.
the travel services offered to the children of ingleby barwick are not the 'excellent service' that the conyers headmaster makes them out to be.
this just proves even more that another school and college provison should be provided for the ever growing child population of ingleby barwick! Educate and keep our children safe - today those children involved have been lucky - it could have been a lot worse.

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Middlesbrough54 says...
8:26pm Thu 19 Apr 12

I’m not suggesting your child is at fault for the accident Stumpy2 but kids have a habit of exaggerating the facts but the point I am making is that the driver could have been distracted by children messing about not mechanical problems.

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Kinninvie says...
9:33pm Thu 19 Apr 12

Simple solution---Send them to schools in Thornaby instead;-)

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spragger says...
9:51pm Thu 19 Apr 12

The IB people should open a FreeSchool & then there will be choice on travel for their children. .

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Stumpy2 says...
11:40pm Thu 19 Apr 12

@Middlesbrough54 - I completely agree. Kids are not the most reliable of witnesses. But unless, during the very short time they were alone on the bus just after the accident, whilst they were all in shock, they decided between them what story to tell, I think in this case I believe that he wasn't distracted by kids, but was looking at the floor and trying to do something with the foot pedals. At least three different children give roughly this story .. and at least one of those had no contact with the other kids from within minutes of the accident, as her mother was on the scene not long after and took her straight to A&E.

At the end of the day there is only three possibilities I can think of: either the driver was distracted by the kids (which, as a professional, he shouldn't have been - we have all driven in cars with kids driving us scatty in the back); he wasn't paying attention (again, his fault), or there was a mechanical failure (not his fault, but certainly the bus companys).

What is worrying to me is that, despite what happened today, the bus driver of the replacement bus that took the children from the accident site to school was still quite happy to use a mobile phone whilst driving. Not on bluetooth or anything like that, but propping the mobile on his shoulder. To me, that just shows that, regardless of what caused this accident, the drivers and the company have no respect for the job they're doing.

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charlie.74 says...
9:53am Fri 20 Apr 12

My child was one of the children involved in this accident. I was not contacted by the school. Two hours after the incident I read about it on facebook and that was how I was aware it had happened!! This was followed by text messages from other concerned parents asking about my child's welfare. They were informed of the accident from their own children via mobile phones. At no point did the school contact me. I have caller display and my mobile phone is on and with me at all times. My son states that on arrival at school he went to Student services and was told to go to lessons without being looked over. I collected him myself and he has an injury to his shoulder, caused by being thrust into the seat in front. I must say that I am not impressed with the school's handling of this situation. Not one parent I have spoken to was contacted by the school. I would also like to add that children often have to sit on eachothers laps on these buses, even up to last night's return from school journey. I hope if anything good comes out of this accident, it will be that it highlights the safety issue(or lack of) for transportation of children from Ingleby Barwick and the obvious issue that if there were sufficient secondary school places for our children, they would not have to leave the estate to receive secondary school education.

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Stumpy2 says...
1:21pm Sat 21 Apr 12

@charlie74 - very similar to what we experienced .. no phone call from the school, when he arrived he was sent on to his first lesson without being checked out. I've since spoken to a few people who confirm that often kids have to sit on each others laps as there aren't enough seats. Um .. we were told that each child has a bus pass, MUST show it to the driver, has an allocated seat on a specific bus and has to use that seat. So something is going badly wrong if kids are having to double up on seat spaces. The story I heard was that the drivers don't check passes, let anyone on, often the kid who actually is supposed to be on that bus gets there to discover their seat already taken. Surely, the point of paying for a seat on a bus (by either the parent or the council), is actually to HAVE a seat to themselves?!

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