Fatal Coach Crash On A3

Specialist serious injury experts at Irwin Mitchell have once again called for coach safety to be reviewed, after three people were killed and others seriously injured in a crash involving a coach returning from Bestival on the Isle of Wight.

No other vehicles are thought to have been involved in the crash, which occurred late on Monday (September 10th) as the 51-seat vehicle owned by Merseypride Travel drove north on the A3 close to the Hindhead Tunnel in Surrey.

The three victims who died were declared dead at the scene, while others were taken to several different hospitals in the local area for treatment.  The A3 was closed in both directions in the immediate aftermath of the crash.

Irwin Mitchell’s specialist serious injury experts have many year’s experience of acting for victims of major coach accidents in the UK and abroad, including more than 20 passengers from Alvechurch Middle school near Birmingham who were left seriously injured in France in February this year. The driver of the coach in that incident has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and is expected to return to court in the coming weeks.

The law firm also represented US rock band Alien Ant Farm and their road crew following a fatal crash in Spain involving their tour bus.

Clive Garner, a Partner at Irwin Mitchell who has represented dozens of victims from  nearly 20 different coach crashes commented from the law firm’s Manchester office: “This incident has come just weeks after the crash involving rock band Baroness and months after two people were killed when travelling on a coach returning from the RockNess festival in Scotland.

“Like the Baroness and Alvechurch incidents, this is another crash when a coach has left the road without the involvement of any other vehicles.

“While very little is yet known about this latest incident, it is vital that everything possible is done to discover what happened. Through our experience in other coach crash cases where no other vehicles have been involved, driver behaviour and often driver fatigue have been significant factors. Obviously in this case it is too early to determine what the cause of this accident is but the actions of the driver will clearly be under the spot light, as will potential mechanical issues which may have played a part.

“For a number of years now we have called for enhanced coach safety, both in the UK and abroad. We have particularly campaigned for more to be done to improve driver training and supervision, as well as other issues including the use of the safest possible routes.

“The victims injured in this latest coach crash and the families of those who have tragically been killed will demand a full investigation into exactly what went wrong here and as well as being entitled to see that Justice is done I am sure they will be looking to see all possible improvements in coach safety are undertaken to avoid the repeat of future incidents of this kind.”

If you’ve experienced physical or psychological injury due to a road traffic accident involving a bus or coach, you may be able to claim compensation. See our Bus & Coach Accident Claims page for more information.