David Culshaw committed the ‘worst act’ the industry regulator had ever seen – causing a passenger to fall out of his moving bus
A 53 year-old bus driver from Liverpool has withdrawn his appeal against the revocation of his PCV licence, after committing what Deputy Traffic Commissioner (DTC) Miles Dorrington said was “probably the worst act” he had ever seen in the industry.
The Deputy Traffic Commissioner for the North West of England ruled that David Culshaw, formerly of Halton Transport, had failed to ensure the safety of his passengers, driving in a manner that was ‘significantly below’ that expected of a professional driver; consequently, his PCV license was revoked on December 21, 2016.
The incident in question took place on September 15, 2016, while David was at the wheel of his Halton Transport bus in service on Belle Vale Road, Liverpool.
CCTV images from onboard show a 71 year-old male passenger approaching David’s cab after the bus passed the previous stop – which the passenger in question had wanted to get off at.
After stopping the bus, opening the doors and exchanging words with the passenger onboard, David can be seen driving off with the doors of the bus still open.
As a result of the sudden acceleration, the passenger lost his balance and fell out of the bus onto the road; the footage shows him lying face down on the tarmac as the bus comes to a stop, with passengers visibly ‘horrified’ by the chain of events.
Soon afterwards, the bus moved off – while the passenger’s legs were still in the road – creating ‘significant risk’ to him according to the DTC.The bus doors were still open at this point, almost causing a second elderly passenger to fall out.
David contended that he had been assaulted by the passenger, a view which was rejected by the DTC; Miles noted that neither he nor the driver’s employers had seen any evidence on the CCTV footage of any physical assault.
The elderly male passenger in question suffered broken bones as a result of his fall.
David – who had worked as a bus driver for almost three decades at the time of his conviction – later appealed the DTC’s decision to South Sefton Magistrates’ Court, but proceedings were put on hold after Merseyside Police prosecuted him for driving without due care and attention – landing him a £120 fine, costs of £650 and seven penalty points on his driving license.
David has since withdrawn his appeal against the decision.
In the initial hearing, held at the Office of the Traffic Commissioner in Golborne on October 12, 2016, Halton Transport Operations Director Brian Stevenson was in attendance, along with a second employee from the firm.
In a written decision issued after the hearing, DTC Miles Dorrington commented: “Mr Culshaw acted in a reckless manner by pulling away from a stationary position whilst a passenger was within the entrance to the bus when the doors of that bus were open.
“His actions caused a passenger to fall from the bus onto the road causing significant injuries to that passenger.
“This was not a case of a momentary or short lapse of concentration,” he continued.
“This is a case where Mr Culshaw’s misconduct spanned several minutes and resulted in an injured passenger being left lying in the road and a second person almost falling out of a moving bus.”
David also failed to apologise for his actions, leading the DTC to add: “I regard this as probably the worst act that I have ever seen any PCV driver commit whilst driving a bus laden with passengers in my eight years as a Deputy Traffic Commissioner.
“Mr Culshaw’s misconduct was very serious.”
