It might be 187 days since anything drove into Melbourne’s infamous Montague St Bridge, but those who fell afoul of it in the past are still feeling the consequences.
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A 55-year-old bus driver has been sentenced to a maximum of five years and three months jail over a 2016 incident in which he drove a tourist bus into the low overpass, severely injuring several passengers.
Jack Aston was driving the Gold Bus Ballarat coach on February 22nd, 2016 with 14 people on board when it slammed into the notoriously low overpass in South Melbourne at approximately 10:30am.
Judge Bill Stuart found that despite at least three passengers on-board the bridge, and despite height indicator beacons being activated by the approaching bus, Aston still managed to either completely not recognise the approaching bridge at all, or failed to realise that his vehicle, with a height of 3.8-metres, would greatly exceed the 3.0-metre clearance of the bridge. The bus was travelling at a reported 56km/h at the moment of impact.
Three of your passengers saw the bridge. How it is that you did not, is astonishing. Why you were so grossly inattentive is unknown to me.
Driving an 11-tonne bus with 14 passengers and failing to observe any of the warnings is itself in my view a serious example of this offending.
Aston had previously been found guilty in October on six charges levelled against him; all of which were for negligently causing serious injury.
Aston’s employer had attempted to help his cause by taking responsibility for not warning him of the driving conditions in the area, however Judge Stuart ruled that the driver was ultimately responsible for his own actions, particularly given how extremely obvious it was that the bus would exceed the clearance of the bridge.
Six people were seriously injured in the crash.
Aston will serve a minimum of two years, six months in prison before being eligible for early release.
