School bus driver 'went past road closed signs before stranding in floods'
A SCHOOL bus driver drove past two road closed signs before stranding his vehicle in floodwater with 23 children on board, a court has heard.
Jones is on trial accused of dangerous driving
The youngsters, who were heading for Easingwold School, in North Yorkshire, had to be rescued by firefighters, a jury at York Crown Court was told.
The incident happened on Tollerton Lane, near the village of Newton-on-Ouse, on January 5, following what Judge Paul Batty QC described as “floods of biblical proportions” in the York area.
Bus driver Graham Jones, 43, has gone on trial accused of dangerous driving.
The bus driver lost control of the bus while driving through a body of floodwater
Mr Jones had driven through two road closed signs
Graham O'Sullivan, prosecuting, told the jury that Jones denies that charge but admits that he drove carelessly.
Mr O'Sullivan said Jones drove his bus along Tollerton Lane from Newton-on-Ouse on the first day back after the Christmas break.
He said this was not the normal bus route but he had been told to pick up a child at an isolated farmhouse because a closed bridge meant the normal bus could not reach him.
The bus was carrying 23 children when it crashed
The prosecutor said Jones drove through one stretch of floodwater before losing control of the bus in a second section.
He told the jury: “Mr Jones had driven through two road closed signs.”
Jones, of Linton Woods Lane, Linton-on-Ouse, denies one charge of dangerous driving.