There’s no fooling CCTV cameras
We’ve all had experiences of seeing bus drivers who are in a hurry to get to their destination but this story of Aircoach driver Sean Purcell might be one of the most bizarre ones recorded.
On July 22nd 2013, the driver was caught driving an empty bus at 100 km/h on the M50 with of his hands off the steering wheel.
Mr Purcell has since claimed unfair dismissal but CCTV footage that was viewed by the Employment Appeals Tribunal proved to be damning. The images showed that he had removed both hands from the wheel, used his elbows to drive the vehicle and that his hands were holding up an iPad to his ear because he wanted to listen to music.
At the time, the incident was noticed by a nearby driver who reported him to Aircoach who took swift action.
A driver-trainer with Aircoach told the tribunal that Mr Purcell was not driving safely and that he was “horrified” after viewing the CCTV footage.
Aircoach’s operations manager was “seriously concerned from a health and safety point of view” and that the driver had “put both himself and others in danger”.
Mr Purcell argued his case on the grounds that he “thought the company should have no issue as it was not a mobile phone he was using” and that he felt fully in control of the vehicle at the time.
During the recent disciplinary tribunal, the EAT stated that Mr Purcell’s actions “constituted a serious safety risk and were in clear breach of company policies” while the Managing Director of Aircoach said “we welcome the decision by the employment appeals tribunal. Safety is our number one priority and our rules are there for the safety of our passengers, our drivers and for other road users”.
Hat-Tip – Examiner
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