Bus company fined $650k over deadly Greta crash

Linq Buslines has been fined $650,000 after pleading guilty to charges related to a deadly bus crash in Greta in 2023. The crash, which claimed the lives of 10 people, was caused by a driver impaired by drugs.

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no amount would take away the pain

The company, along with directors Christopher Fogg and Anthony Royle, admitted to failing in their duty of care. This failure encompassed risks associated with overspeeding, driver fatigue, and the employment of drivers under the influence of drugs. The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator brought the charges against the company.

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The offender [Linq Buslines] recruited a man [Brett Button] who had been stood down from a previous employer with an opioid dependency and posed a significant risk.

During sentencing, Judge Kirralee Perry emphasized that no amount of money could erase the pain of the victims' families. She noted that Linq Buslines had hired Brett Andrew Button, the driver responsible, despite his known opioid dependency, thereby placing the community at significant risk. The court heard that the company's only reference check for Button was a text message, which described him as a "good bloke."

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It is flippant at best and it is wholly inappropriate in terms as being used as a way to provide a reference check for somebody who is going to be put in charge of driving a heavy vehicle.

The judge criticized the company's use of the term "steering wheel attendants" for drivers, deeming it flippant and inappropriate for a role involving heavy vehicle operation. Linq Buslines has ceased operating, with its bus contracts not renewed and accreditation terminated in March. The directors, Fogg and Royle, received fines of $12,000 each for their roles in the overspeeding offenses, which involved seven drivers on 12 occasions. Judge Perry declined a request to not record convictions for the directors, acknowledging their remorse and the profound impact the incident has had on them.

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The company and directors fell short in ensuring they complied with their duty.