BUS DRIVERS’ EFFICIENCY

Southland Times, Issue 23001, 22 September 1936, Page 8

BUS DRIVERS’ EFFICIENCY

Lack Of A Test Condemned

(United Press Association.)

Auckland, September 21.

Criticism of the lack of an exacting test to ensure that bus drivers handle their vehicle with the utmost skill and expediency in cases of emergency was voiced by Mr Wyvern Wilson, S.M., the Coroner, at the inquest into the death of Brian Kennedy, aged five, the son of Mr J. Kennedy, of Point Chevalier, who suffered fatal injuries when he was knocked down by a motor bus in the Point Chevalier road on August 8. The Coroner said that one expected children under six years of age to be heedless and careless, and apparently the child ran out heedlessly in front of the bus. The driver was unable to help him at all, as he was unable to tell what distances he required at certain speeds to stop his bus. He could only surmize. “I think there should be a test for the knowledge of drivers in handling their vehicles,” the Coroner said. “Public safety on the roads and in the buses themselves depends on the knowledge and skill of the bus drivers in an emergency.” A verdict was returned that the boy died from shock and internal injuries, as the result of being accidentally knocked down by a bus.