UK bus company boss jailed for hiring an incompetent Pole

It can be argued that the reason that he could not see the cherry picker was because of that fact that he did not pass an eye test. you should easily be able to see a cherry picker from the ground.

I thought the cherry pickers were Polish people helping out on the farms:D sorry bad joke:/

They could be

OK, thanx.

My problem is: How did the accident occur ? Was the basket of the cherry-picker overhanging the street ?

unfortunatly the details arent made very clear, however all drivers are burdened by strict liability. Therefore I dont see why negligence was not proven in this case. It is reasonable to assume that any drivers approaching roadworks should do so under caution.

smashing the front of your bus into a cherry picker, and claiming you could not see it because your sun visor was down is a ridiculous defence. And if anything goes to prove causation and the act of negligence.

There was not, what is called in law, a novus actus interveniens (a new intervening act). The bus driver, in the absence of this, is still liable.

It's like the thin skull rule we have. U could say that u only hit an OAP relatively softly but this won't wash in a court of law as u still caused the wrong, e.g brain haemorrhage. The bus driver still brought about the wrong and he must be held liable. This is a principled approach though I would like to know more about how the final result came about.

Actually Seanus I have to disagree. A lot of the good drivers have gone to the UK and many who are left are just dam right dangerous.

It's not right that they are using drivers who can't speak any English.


I'm not fluent in Polish but I've got a good vocabulary and yes I can read the signs!

Well Hairball, this is ur domain more than mine but it hasn't been my experience. Bus drivers are no worse here

I'm not saying that they are all bad, but many are!

The Telegraph gives a little more detail.

It was a government inspector who showed that the sun visor prevented the driver from seeing the basket.

The cherry picker vehicle was not hit. It was the basket that was overhanging the road that was hit.

Now I'd like to know if the basket was moving at the time of the accident. At what point did the basket move into a position over the road ?

the whole thread is ridiculous.this guy has no arguments.the newspapers like this obscure facts or cut the story short so people like noimmi can expand it or finish it.

the driver was cleared by the court the bosses jailed.the driver couldn's see the basked that's it.noimmi go back to kindergarden.

I think noimmi found a good case here. Firstly, from the perspective of the new clampdown on 'dubious' workers and, secondly, from a legal standpoint. It looks at causation and vicarious liability. Quite a good read I thought, without wanting to appear disingenuous to the family members.

How can a bus driver be rude to his passengers if he can't speak English?
Easily - by not responding to a single word they say. I suppose there are enough internationally recognised rude genstures that could be used as well. Bus drivers are supposed to be nasty to people, drive past bus-stops with people waiting in the rain, and refuse to take anything other than the exact money.

You are a bus driver. I don't care if it's early in the morning, you should expect someone to pay a £4.50 fare with a £5 note.

How about a 2.50zł fare with a 200zł not like I had yesterday?


I hate to defend noimi rafik but he is right. The driver is suposed to be a professional and he should have been aware of what was in the road. He should have made absolutly sure that the road was passable. To say that he couldn't see bacause of the sun viser is a lame excuse.

'First' have a bus training school Lublin...

The bus company that NoIm was talking about was just plain dangerous, buses were unsafe and the drivers were not properly trained...it's the employers fault...

Well said ShelleyS .....that sums it up perfectly ....

If you're an employer, and someone applies for a job but clearly does not possess the ability or skills for that job , there are two courses of action the employer can take ..... either don't hire that applicant or train him/her so they can carry out the job safely and effectively !

In addition , the employer is responsible for the safety of the vehicles/equipment that their employees use, which was clearly not the case in this bus company.

noimmigration .... do you spend most of your time searching for articles where you then try to pin the blame of Polish people?

Confirms my suspicion that noimmi is a web bot..

Which is a major part of the problem. The standard of driving in Poland isn't good enough. And it's not just bus drivers. It's right accross the board.


Your totaly wrong. It's the drivers responsibility to check the safety of his vehicle and to report any faults. And it's quite imperitive that he has the language skills to report any such faults.

I can't beleive how many normally intelegent people on this forum are defending the incompitence of this driver.

HE KILLED SOMEBODY FOR CHRIST SAKE.

It could have been a loved one of yours.

You're correct with the average Tom Dick and Harry, but i've never had a problem on public transport.

Me neither

True, but it's the employers job to make sure his employee is doing his.

Hmm..true Dave but this kind of job isn't the same as factory work where u can inspect much more frequently.

I'm not. But I would like to know if the cherry picker arm swung in front of the bus.
And if it did was the driver given enough time to stop. Even if he did see it.

As usual people arguing a point, but without the facts.

I haven't defended the incompetence as it was manslaughter caused through negligence. Also, causation says that he should be to blame.

Good point Wroclaw

Polanglik: the employer is responsible for the safety of the vehicles/equipment


The question of how incompetent the driver was?..... I am not arguing this point ..... if he does not possess the appropriate skills nor had the necessary training to do the job, then he should never have been driving the bus in the first place - the fault/blame lies ultimately with the owners/directors of the bus company !

Check out the following website ..... this applies generally to all work places /environments : direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/HealthAndSafetyAtWork /DG_4016686

If you check then you will see that :-

The employer's duty of care in practice
All employers, whatever the size of the business, must amongst other:
1.make the workplace safe
2.ensure that plant and machinery is safe to use, and that safe working practices are set up and followed
3.check that the right work equipment is provided and is properly used and regularly maintained
In addition ,
Making the workplace safe and healthy
So that the work premises provide a safe and healthy place to work, your employer should amongst other:
1.keep the workplace and equipment clean
2.keep the workplace and equipment in good working order
3.let employees take appropriate rest breaks and their correct holiday entitlement
4.make sure that employees who work alone, or off-site, can do so safely and healthily

A competent bus company would ensure all the health and safety issues were adhered to, and in the case of UK North and GM Buses Enterprises Ltd they clearly were not - employees were known to have worked up to 31 consecutive days without a proper break. Even though it may be part of the job requirement for bus drivers to check the road worthiness of their vehicles, it is up to employers/management to ensure that employees are trained for this and carry out the checks.

It is the simple solution to lay blame for accidents at the person(s) closest to the scene of any accident; however in many cases the problem lies much deeper and when the cause of the accident is researched, usually it is management which is to blame!

I speak with some authority on these matters as I have studied and worked on such issues for a number of years - I possess postgraduate qualification in Organisational Psychology, and have done work on Risk Assessment, Causes of Accidents & Blame, Health and Safety etc.

Apologies for the long post !!

It's also entirely possible to have a competent company bend over backwards to ensure health & saftey guidelines are adhered to, only to be let down by an incompetent member of staff.

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 puts responsibility on both the employer and the employee.

True ... but the company in question on this thread has been shown to be totally incompetent ...agreed ??

No, it was stationary at the time, the bus was a double decker and hit the cherry picker as pointed out the sun visor in the drivers cab obscured his vision and he didnt see the cherrypicker.


An employee also has legal obligations to uphold with regards to H&S.

Yes. As incompetent as some of the drivers they employed