Experts say Navan crash preventable

Two braking experts have told the Navan bus crash sentencing hearing that had the ABS system on the bus been functioning properly, the deaths of five schoolgirls may have been prevented.

The sentencing hearing of Bus Éireann, Meath County Council and Keltank Ltd, arising from the investigation into the 2005 crash, is being held today.

Lisa Callan (15), Claire McCluskey (18), Deirdre Scanlon (17), Amy McCabe (15) and Sinead Ledwidge (15)  were killed and 43 other children were injured when the school bus overturned on the Kentstown Road just outside Navan on May 23rd, 2005.

Bus Éireann and Meath County Council previously pleaded guilty to breaches of the Health and Safety Act, while last week Keltank admitted to being aware that ABS sensor leads were disconnected in the bus that crashed, and that it failed to ascertain whether it was a hazard or not.

Braking expert Robert McClelland told the sentencing hearing that the faulty ABS system on the bus contributed greatly to the tragedy.

Mr McClelland said it was his professional opinion "that the severity of the accident was increased by the non-functioning ABS system".

"If the vehicle remained under the control of the driver, it would not have spun the way it did," he told the court.

Safety expert Ian Malcolm Knight also told the hearing that a functioning ABS system would have greatly increased the driver's chance of maintaining directional stability and bringing the bus to a safe stop.

Mr Malcom Knight, who works for the Transport Research Laboratory in the UK, said "there was a good chance the accident would not have happened in the same way" if the ABS system had been operational.

The three defendants all face fines under the Health and Welfare at Work Act.