French coach crash

News of another coach crash with minor injuries has raised hope that calls for tougher safety measures on coach travel abroad by the country's leading travel lawyers may have been heard.

Youngsters from Pool Hayes Community School in Willenhall, near Wolverhampton, West Midlands, were en route to the Alps when one of the vehicles, containing 40 pupils and four members of staff, hit a barrier south of Champagne. Fortunately only some of the pupils had been injured and they had only suffered cuts and bruises. No-one required hospital treatment.

Clive Garner, head of the international travel litigation unit at law firm Irwin Mitchell said, I am extremely relieved that this accident has led to only minor injuries, and whilst more information about the crash has yet to be released I hope that this has been as a result of an increased awareness of safety issues when travelling by coach abroad."

As a result of the high number of people we have represented over the past few years who have been injured in foreign coach crashes, we have been making increasingly urgent calls for improved safety checks and more rigorous measures to be put in place to minimise the number of serious injuries and fatalities we were seeing."

Call for increased safety following French coach crash

Suggestions for increased coach safety measures have included stricter licensing and monitoring of coach drivers and operators, more rigorous maintenance and coach construction standards and the avoidance of dangerous routes by operators particularly in adverse weather conditions.

Mr Garner continued: "In the last 5 years Irwin Mitchell has acted for the victims of 14 separate coach crashes abroad. Literally hundreds of English tourists have been killed or seriously injured in these incidents. Many will have to live with pain and disability for the rest of their lives, while others have had their lives taken away or have lost their children, parents, husbands or wives through no fault of their own and without any warning or justification. We hope this is not a trend that is continuing and that safety is now being put first."

If you or a loved one has been injured in a road traffic accident while on holiday or working abroad, our specialist holiday accidents & illness claims team could help you to secure the compensation you deserve. See our Road Traffic Accident Abroad Claims page for more information.