Elgin Low's Article (Bus accident)

CAR GETS A SCAR, BUS GETS BUSTED.

Courtesy of Elgin Low / Posted: 27/1/2011 / 0913

It was 1.30pm in the afternoon yesterday. The students of School of Science & Technology (SST) were just released from class. Student Lin Teck Soon was going to go home in his father’s (Lin Xin Hock) car. For 17 years, Mr. Lin has been a private taxi driver, and conveniently sends and fetches his son to and from school every day. Mr. Lin, 43, patiently waits outside the school gates of SST every afternoon to send his son home.

As usual, Teck Soon got into the car. When they were driving off, disaster struck. Mr. Lin sees an SST bus (bus 017) that routinely ferries students to and from their houses. The bus reverses in the car-park, which is nothing really abnormal. What happens next is that the bus accelerates squarely towards Mr. Lin’s car, which is parked just outside the car-park in the school. Luckily, Mr. Lin reverses in time to save himself, but not his car. The bus shears off the front of Mr. Lin’s car, shattering the glass on the lights and destroying the front car number plate.

That was the least of the bus driver’s worries as the bus continued towards the highway, which was fraught with cars. A car sped towards the bus, its driver trying frantically to brake it. However, collision was eminent this driver however, was not so lucky. The front chassis was obliterated, which also bore a big gaping hole in the bus bottom. That finally put a stop to the rampaging bus. The bus driver, and the car driver, got out of their vehicles, and moved to the side of the road to access the damage. There was no further dispute as the bus driver has agreed to settle the charges for repairs.

The police came to clear the site a while later. In the process, arresting the bus driver.

Luckily, the bus driver, its passengers, Mr. Lin, and the driver of the second car (who wished to be unnamed) were safe. However, the bus driver was charged in court after investigation, as he was found to have been drink-driving at the point of time.

Mr. Lin expresses his thoughts of this incident as “a big letdown.” He says that the school should be responsible for the safety of the students and not hired reckless drivers. The principal, Mr. Khua, has responded to this by filing a lawsuit to the company and firing the bus driver.

Mr. Lin goes on to say, “It’s not the charges of the repairs for my car that I’m worried about. It’s about how we are going to be able to trust the safety of our kids to the school.”

This statement has been agreed on by many other parents. With such doubt in the school now, the principal seeks to regain the trust of the parents in SST. However, wether this works, only time will tell...