Woodford House pupils tell of fatal bus crash

Press, 24 April 1987, Page 8

Woodford House pupils tell of fatal bus crash

PA . Hastings Five Woodford House pupils told an inquest yesterday that the bus in which they were travelling was going too fast when it crashed at Kereru on February 17 killing five persons.

But a bus driver who was travelling behind the Nimon’s coach said both coaches were driving “correctly” and at a speed below 80km/h. However, all five pupils who testified yesterday said that their driver, Cedric Goucher, aged 59, of Hastings, who was killed in the crash, appeared to have been going too fast One of the pupils said that a teacher, Mr Phillip Knight who was also

killed, had told Mr Goucher, “Please slow down.”

“I remember thinking ‘Oh, please don’t crash’,” the student told the Coroner, Mr D. N. Williams. She said Mr Goucher had sped up just seconds before the crash as the bus travelled up a hilt Another pupil said she heard Mr Goucher call out, “Oh, God,” or something like that when the bus hit a fence.

The pupil said that just before the crash, she became concerned about the speed of the bus. “I do remember thinking that I would like to ask him to slow down and he was going up the hill.” A pupil, aged 13, re-

called seeing Mr Goucher wrestling with the steering wheel just before the bus plummeted over a bank. Another of the pupils said she heard a teacher, Mrs Julie Watson, scream out as the bus rolled over. Mrs Watson, aged 37, of Flaxmere, was also killed. The other two victims were pupils — Katie Bridget Hutchinson, aged 15, of Hastings, and Belinda Pittar, aged 11, of Auckland. Twenty witnesses were to testify at the inquest which may last two days. As well as those killed, 22 pupils were injured. The bus was carrying 41 people. A bus drdiver, Colin Leslie Cudd, of Havelock

North, said he bpd been in the bus behind Mr Goucher and that both vehicles were travelUiig between 65 and 72 m.pb. Just before the crash Mr Goucher’s brake lights flashed several times. The tail of Mr Goucher’s bus whipped from side to,side as he travelled through the gorge where the crash ' occurred. : ’-X’ - Mr Goucher seemed Jo straighten the vehicle; Mr Cudd said that when he next looked for Mr. Goucher’s bus he could see only a cloud of dust Mr Cudd stopped bis vehicle and ran to the crash scene. There were bodies lying about and passengers were screaming and very distraught;