Saturday, December 25, 2010

Thank goodness they wearing listening.

Every day I make the same announcement over the microphone on my coach that "seat belts MUST be worn at all times whilst seated". Most passengers comply with this legal requirement to wear a seat belt but many ignore this legal requirement and my instruction. Sadly a coach crashed and overturned yesterday in Norlfolk.

The coach with 49 people on board was heading towards Norwich on Friday after visiting nearby Holt when it left the road, climbed a steep grass embankment and flipped on to its side. Norfolk Police said most of the passengers were walking wounded, with 15 suffering minor injuries and five seriously hurt with potential fractures and cuts. The force added that "thankfully" the passengers were wearing their seatbelts - meaning that despite the injuries, no-one was killed. Some had to be freed by firefighters.
An East of England Ambulance Service spokeswoman said 17 people were taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
One passenger said: "We had been to Holt and were heading towards Norwich. Me and my husband dozed off and the next thing we knew the coach was on its side."
Inspector David Ball of Norfolk Police said: "The people were trapped in the seats, thankfully they had seatbelts on. If nobody was wearing seatbelts... they'd have landed on top of each other, it would have been a lot worse. Thankfully we have had no fatalities involved in this."
Police are trying to establish why the crash happened. No other vehicles were involved. The pensioners were on a Christmas bus tour run by Stowmarket-based Galloway Travel.

The medical team from Anglia One , the air ambulance serving Suffolk and Norfolk, was also called to the scene.

Its clinical team of Dr Pam Chrispin and East of England Critical Care Paramedic Andy Downes then worked with road crews to assess the passengers. Dr Chrispin said: “This was a major incident but, forunately, all of those on board the coach were wearing their seatbelts and this certainly reduced both the number and seriousness of injuries received. We wish all those affected a speedy recovery.”






...So, there you have it. Listen, "Seats belts MUST be worn whilst seated". Coach crashes are very rare here in the UK but accidents do occur. It is both a legal requirement and best practice to wear a seat belt at all times, these passengers endorse this and are alive to tell the tale.
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