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Speeding Cambridgeshire guided busway driver gets suspended sentence

BBC Guided bus crashBBC
The bus crashed on the outskirts of Cambridge

A guided bus driver who crashed while speeding near Cambridge, injuring five passengers, has been handed a 12-week suspended prison sentence.

Van Cheyun Le was driving at more than 53mph in a 30mph zone when the vehicle left the busway's concrete tracks on 22 February 2016 near Trumpington, and ended up mounting a verge.

A report by the county council, which runs the busway, found it was "unlikely the bus was under... control".

Le was dismissed after the accident.

The crash happened when the bus collided with part of the concrete guide track.

One of the guided wheels was "sheared off" which had a "catastrophic effect on the bus's guidance... magnified by the bus's forward momentum", the council said at the time.

Cambs County Council CCTV of bus crashCambs County Council
The bus was travelling at more than 50mph in the 30mph zone approaching the tracks with which it then made contact on its left-hand side
Cambs County Council CCTV of bus crashCambs County Council
Having lost its guide wheel, the speeding bus skidded, left the track and crashed across a maintenance road before coming to rest on the verge

Two of those injured in the crash, an elderly woman and an elderly man, were taken to hospital while the other injured passengers were treated at the scene.

Their injuries included a fractured spine, pelvis, ribs and whiplash.

The crash also caused "considerable damage" to the bus itself, as well as the track.

Guided bus crash
Two of the five people injured were taken to hospital

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found Le was reading a time duty card while driving and therefore had no vision of the busway ahead and was not holding the steering wheel.

Le, 37, of Kent Road, Huntingdon, who had been employed by Cambus Ltd, trading as Stagecoach East, appeared at Huntingdon Magistrates' Court on 9 August where he pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable care of himself and his passengers under the the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

He was sentenced to 12 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to pay costs of £2,000.

Guided bus crash
The bus left the concrete tracks and ended up on a verge

Speaking after the case, HSE inspector Nigel Fitzhugh said: "Drivers of guided buses must remain vigilant at all times.

"It is especially important to do so when driving on guided sections as the absence of steering control may create a sense that full control of the bus is being maintained."

Guided bus crash
The crash was caused by the driver's "excessive speed"

The Cambridgeshire guided busway opened in 2011 and connects Cambridge with Huntingdon and St Ives.

The busway carries thousands of passengers in and out of Cambridge every day, with buses running on the specially-designed concrete tracks.